Payton: Saints plan to start Brees in Sunday’s showdown with Chiefs
Saints quarterback Drew Brees “looked good” in his first practices since returning from rib fractures and a punctured lung, and is slated to start against the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday, coach Sean Payton said.
“We went off how it felt as he went through a full practice week.
And he’s done a good job,” Payton said after Friday’s practice.
Brees has missed four games since his injury, which occurred when he was sacked against San Francisco.
Taysom Hill has started in Brees’ place, going 3-1. Even before Brees’ injury, Hill would intermittently take snaps under center to provide New Orleans with a change-of-pace, readoption QB. So he could continue to see snaps at QB as well.
“We have a number of personnel groupings to give us some flexibility and we’ll go from there,” Payton said.
Payton said Brees would be wearing a protective vest over his torso, but the coach dismissed the idea that the Saints were rushing the 41-year-old QB back from injury.
“We wouldn’t be playing him if he wasn’t healthy and able to function and feeling good and recovered,” Payton said.
■ 49ERS: The San Francisco 49ers will finish out the regular season practicing and playing home games in Arizona after a ban on contact sports in their home county was extended into January.
The Niners relocated to Arizona at the beginning of December after Santa Clara County announced a threeweek ban on contact sports games and practices to help slow the spread of the coronavirus. That ban was initially supposed to be lifted on Dec. 21 but now has been extended until at least Jan. 8, meaning San Francisco’s home game Jan. 3 against Seattle will be played in Arizona.
The 49ers were expecting to be forced to stay in Arizona for the rest of the season and made plans for many families of players, coaches and staff to join them next week for Christmas.
San Francisco travels to Dallas on Sunday before playing a road game on Dec. 26 against the Cardinals in the stadium the teams are currently sharing. The Week 17 game against the Seahawks wraps up the schedule.
■ WASHINGTON: Dwayne Haskins is set to start at quarterback for Washington on Sunday against Seattle because starter Alex Smith is out with a right calf injury.
Coach Ron Rivera ruled out Smith and standout rookie running back Antonio Gibson on Friday and named Haskins the starter. Smith had hoped to play despite not taking part in full practices this week.
“Getting to watch him do some of his movements and some of the things he was going to have to do in the game, he still felt a little tight,” Rivera said.
Haskins will be making his first start since a Week 4 loss to Baltimore. The 2019 firstround pick relieved Smith in Washington’s most recent game against San Francisco.
Rivera benched Haskins after four starts and initially turned to Kyle Allen. After Allen got injured, Smith started an NFL game for the first time since 2018. Washington is 4-1 since Smith took over.