Saints: Drew Brees’ 2020 season sounds incredibly painful
Drew Brees explained just how much pain he was in during the 2020 NFL season.
Drew Brees suffered what was considered a catastrophic injury during the 2020 NFL season. One hit left him with 11 fractured ribs and a collapsed lung. But not even that insane injury ended his season.
Brees ended up returning before the New Orleans Saints eventually fell in the playoffs to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. While it appeared he would retire, chatter did remain about a possible comeback.
Brees spoke with the media at a charity golf event Wednesday and quotes shared by The Athletic’s Jeff Duncan made it clear Brees was just in too much pain to run it back in 2021.
"... as to what I could and couldn’t do. And I recognized that. And that’s really hard for a competitor. It’s really hard to know what you should be able to do, and yet you can’t, because of various injuries or things that are taking place with your body. (contd.)"
— Jeff Duncan (@JeffDuncan_) April 21, 2021
Drew Brees was his normal self for only one game
Brees explained how he only felt good during the Week 4 matchup against the Detroit Lions. The fact he was not there in Week 1 shows just how much pain he had all season.
The main problem, according to Brees himself, was limited movement because of what sounds like an incredibly painful core issue.
"As a QB everything you do is rotation. And when you can’t rotate the way that you want, you all of a sudden begin to accommodate. Everything for you kind of narrows. I cant make that throw. I cant make that throw. I can’t make that throw. So what’s now in my toolbox? (contd.)"
— Jeff Duncan (@JeffDuncan_) April 21, 2021
Fans knew Brees had to deal with his rib fractures and a collapsed lung. No one truly knew how much pain he had been playing in even before that long list of injuries.
Quarterbacks need to rotate to throw and that involves using one’s core muscles. Making every single throw in pain does not sound like an ideal way to play the game. And yet Brees still managed to throw for 2,942 yards and 24 touchdowns in 12 games.
Brees is a legend in the city of New Orleans and the fact he played through so much pain will only continue to make him a hero in that region.
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