Brees lights up Cardinals secondary, shows no signs of injury,
NEW ORLEANS – The Saints are off next week, and some people thought quarterback Drew Brees wouldn’t return from his thumb injury until then.
None of those people, apparently, are employed by the Saints.
Brees missed five games because of the injury and didn’t want to skip a sixth just because an off week was ahead.
“He threw it really well last Monday,” coach Sean Payton said. “I know there was this sentiment to wait until after the bye. This is an important game. Each one of these 16 games has the same value.”
Brees didn’t look rusty against the Cardinals. He passed for 373 yards and three touchdowns in the 31-9 victory.
“This was the kind of week I had in mind from the moment I got hurt,” he said. “I think the doctors and everybody was saying after the bye week, but I was trying to fast track it as much as possible.”
Brees suffered a torn ligament in his right thumb in Week 2 and underwent surgery. He had been on a “throwing schedule” for the last couple weeks, starting with a Nerf ball, then progressing to an NFL football.
“Last week, really Saturday, I told (the team) that next week would be the week. We just stuck to the plan and it all worked out the way we predicted.”
Who Dat at running back?
Now that Chase Edmonds has joined David Johnson on the Cardinals’ injury report, there’s really no telling yet exactly what he Cardinals will do at the position when they turn around and play the 49ers on Thursday at State Farm Stadium.
Edmonds suffered a pulled hamstring during the third-quarter of Sunday’s game. Johnson remains sidelined with an ankle issue, as does thirdstringer D.J. Foster with a sore hamstring. As far as healthy running backs, the only two the Cardinals have on their roster are newcomers Zach Zenner and Alfred Morris. Morris wasn’t active on Sunday.
“I mean, yeah, it’s just tough when you lose Chase and then you have a guy (Zenner) who hadn’t been here but only a couple days and he hasn’t played,” Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray said.
Edmonds, who limped off the field with 4:19 remaining in the third quarter and did not return, said he plans to do everything in his power to play against the 49ers.
“I’m hoping for Thursday,” he said. “I’m going to get in the treatment room and try to get right.”
Cardinals coach Kliff Kingsbury said Johnson remains “day-to-day,” even though there was a report by ESPN on Sunday suggesting Johnson has already been ruled out of Thursday’s game. If Johnson and Edmonds can’t go, the Cardinals may have to turn to Zenner and Morris.
“Yeah, who knows?” Zenner said. “We’ll take it one day at a time, but I know those guys are going to do everything they can to get back out there as quick as they can.”
One foot in
The Cardinals were 0-for-2 in the red zone against the Saints, and several play calls in that area failed miserably.
One that almost succeeded, however was a pass to Larry Fitzgerald in the end zone in the third quarter. Fitzgerald caught the ball but could only get one foot down in the end zone. Replays appeared to show a defender shoving him in the back after he made the catch.