Quarterback Drew Brees again sat out practice for the New Orleans Saints on Wednesday as he deals with a strained oblique, but the Saints aren’t ruling him out for Friday’s preseason opener.
Betsided
The Saints visit the St. Louis Rams Friday night and according to Pro Football Talk, coach Sean Payton hasn’t decided Brees’ status for that game.
Brees hasn’t practiced since late last week and Payton said the veteran signal-caller is feeling much better.
Starters don’t play a lot in the opening week of the preseason and at least one Bayou scribe, Larry Holder of the New Orleans Times-Picayune, is completely unconvinced that Brees will be on the field at the Edward Jones Dome.
There are better odds on a Sean Payton-Gregg Williams pregame hug than on Drew Brees playing against the Rams.
— Larry Holder (@LarryHolder) August 6, 2014
Luke McCown and Ryan Griffin are the backups for New Orleans.
Brees posted his unprecedented third straight 5,000-yard passing season in 2013, finishing with 5,162 yards and 39 touchdowns against just 12 interceptions and he was named to the Pro Bowl for the eighth time.
Since 2011, Brees has thrown for 15,815 yards and 128 touchdowns and just 45 picks, completing 67.6 percent of his passes.
His single-season passing mark of 5,476 yards set in 2011 was broken by Peyton Manning of the Denver Broncos last year. Manning finished with 5,477.
Of the eight 5,000-yard seasons in NFL history, Brees owns four of them, having broken the plateau in 2008 as well as each season from 2011-13.