New Orleans Saints

New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton doesn't have a timeline for the return of his star quarterback Drew Brees, who landed on injured reserve Nov. 20 with 11 total rib fractures.

"I honestly wouldn't be able to give you a time frame," Payton said Monday, per Katherine Terrell of The Athletic. "He's like a handful of the other guys that are down there working their tails off to get back healthy, 100 percent and we'll kind of see when that is."

Brees is eligible to rejoin the team for its Week 14 road trip to face the Philadelphia Eagles, but it will ultimately depend on his recovery. 

The Saints signal-caller sustained two fractures Nov. 8 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, then several more and a collapsed lung against the San Francisco 49ers a week later, when he left the game early. 

Brees has started all but nine games for New Orleans since 2004, with the bulk of his absence coming at the start of 2019 when he had surgery to fix a torn ligament in his thumb and missed five games.

With the 13-time Pro Bowler sidelined, New Orleans has turned largely to Taysom Hill as the team's starter despite the presence of Jameis Winston on the roster.

Winston played most of the snaps under center during the 49ers game and threw six passes for 63 yards, but he hasn't produced anything else since.

As a dual-threat quarterback, Hill led the Saints to the win in Week 11 when he completed 18 of 23 passes for 233 yards and ran for 49 yards and two touchdowns. His Week 12 performance wasn't as strong, though, as he recorded nine completions for 78 yards added 44 rushing yards. 

In Week 13's win over the Atlanta Falcons, Hill threw for 232 yards and two touchdowns on 27-of-37 passing.

The New Orleans Saints are going to the playoffs for the fourth season in a row.  

New Orleans clinched a spot in the postseason with a 21-16 win over the Atlanta Falcons and the Chicago Bears 34-30 loss vs. the Detroit Lions. It also won the NFC South in each of the last three seasons and is living up to elevated expectations this year at 10-2.

While the Saints are going to the playoffs, it hasn't been the easiest route.

Their division became all the more formidable before the season even started when Tom Brady, Rob Gronkowski and Leonard Fournette joined a Tampa Bay Buccaneers team that already had Mike Evans and Chris Godwin. Antonio Brown also joined Tampa Bay during the season.

That seemed to set the stage for a changing of the guard in the NFC South, but New Orleans set the tone with a head-to-head win in Week 1 and a dominant 35-point win in Week 9 to complete the season sweep and clinch the tiebreaker.

From a player perspective, star wide receiver Michael Thomas has played just six games because of injuries and disciplinary reasons.

He was fined and missed a win over the Los Angeles Chargers following a practice altercation in addition to the weeks he missed with an ankle injury. Few teams could withstand the loss of arguably the best wide receiver in the league, but the Saints relied even more on players such as Alvin Kamara, Emmanuel Sanders and Tre'Quan Smith.

Thomas wasn't the only notable setback, as future Hall of Fame quarterback Drew Brees suffered 11 rib fractures and a collapsed lung.

Taysom Hill stepped in as the starting quarterback and led New Orleans to a 24-9 victory over the Atlanta Falcons in Week 11 and three straight wins in total.

The question now becomes whether the Saints can do what they haven't done of late and parlay regular-season success and talent into a Super Bowl title. While Brees and head coach Sean Payton were around during the 2009 campaign when they won the Super Bowl, the rest of the core wasn't.

New Orleans lost in the NFC Divisional Round to end its 2017 season when the Minnesota Vikings completed a miraculous pass to Stefon Diggs on the final play, lost in the NFC Championship Game to end its 2018 season when the Los Angeles Rams benefited from a questionable pass interference no-call and lost in the NFC Wild Card Round to the Vikings last season.

It will have a chance to erase recent history as it competes for the Lombardi Trophy once again this season.

New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees could be back in the lineup for Week 14's game against the Philadelphia Eagles. 

ESPN's Adam Schefter reported Brees' progression from 11 fractured ribs has been promising.  

Brees has built a Hall of Fame resume that features a Super Bowl title, two NFL Offensive Player of the Year Awards, 13 Pro Bowl selections and numerous other honors and records. He's spent the past 15 years in New Orleans after starting his career with the San Diego Chargers.

The 41-year-old Purdue product has remained productive when healthy in 2020, compiling a 110.0 passer rating with 18 touchdowns and three interceptions across nine appearances.

After being one of the league's most durable players for much of his Saints career, injuries have become a factor in recent years. He missed five games last year with a thumb injury and was placed on injured reserve this season with rib fractures and a punctured lung.

Taysom Hill will get another crack at leading the offense while Brees is sidelined in Week 13. Jameis Winston and Trevor Siemian are the team's other reserve options at the sport's most important position.

While the team has enough talent to keep putting up points while being led by the multidimensional Hill, the unit is still at its most effective when Brees is under center. The Saints will need him healthy to make a deep playoff run.

The New Orleans Saints were fined $500,000 and docked a seventh-round draft pick for not wearing masks during their postgame celebration after their Week 9 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

ESPN's Adam Schefter reported the Saints have appealed the punishment. New Orleans is considered a repeat offender of the NFL's COVID-19 policies. The Las Vegas Raiders were previously stripped of a sixth-round pick and fined $500,000 for repeated violations of the policy.

On Nov. 3, the NFL sent out a memo requiring players and coaches to wear masks at all times when they are not on the field, including in the locker room. Several New Orleans players were shown without masks in the postgame celebration of its 38-3 win over Tampa.

While not denying that players were not wearing masks, the Saints have said other teams have celebrated without face coverings without receiving the same level of punishment. The league has come down harder on repeat offenders and will likely continue to do so with COVID-19 ravaging locker rooms in the sport.

Week 12's game between the Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers, originally set for Thanksgiving, has been moved to Tuesday amid an outbreak from the Ravens. The Denver Broncos are seemingly set to play the Saints on Sunday without a quarterback because all of the quarterbacks on their roster were deemed close contacts to Jeff Driskel, who tested positive for COVID.

With the league office seemingly steadfast to keep the season moving along as scheduled—even at the expense of competitive balance—it seems likely the penalties for COVID policy violations will only increase from here.

New Orleans Saints offensive tackle Terron Armstead announced Saturday that he tested positive for COVID-19 and will not be able to play Sunday against the Denver Broncos.

Armstead noted in a tweet that he feels "completely normal and ready to go play" but will not be permitted to do so (Warning: Some language NSFW):

The Saints will put their 8-2 record on the line Sunday when they face the 4-6 Broncos on the road at Empower Field at Mile High in Denver.

Armstead, 29, is in his eighth season and has developed into one of the NFL's best left tackles since the Saints took him in the third round of the 2013 NFL draft out of Arkansas-Pine Bluff.

He was named a Pro Bowler in both 2018 and 2019 is well on his way to a third consecutive Pro Bowl nod this season thanks largely to the lanes he has opened for running back Alvin Kamara.

Armstead has started 81 of the 85 regular-season games he has appeared in, and replacing him Sunday will be no easy task.

The fact that left guard Andrus Peat is also out for Sunday's game because of a concussion will put New Orleans in an even tougher position, especially with inexperienced quarterback Taysom Hill starting over the injured Drew Brees (ribs).

Former Baltimore Ravens offensive lineman James Hurst is listed as the backup left tackle on the Saints' depth chart and could be in line to start, although he also has experience starting at left guard.

Hurst has appeared in 96 career regular-season games, making 46 starts. If Hurst starts at left guard instead, undrafted rookie Ethan Greenidge could be an option at left tackle.

Armstead is not the only player to be impacted by COVID-19 entering Sunday's game, as the Broncos placed both backup quarterback Jeff Driskel and wide receiver Diontae Spencer on the reserve/COVID-19 list this week.

Two Broncos staffers tested positive for COVID-19 as well.

The game is still scheduled to be played Sunday at 4:05 p.m. ET, although the COVID-19 pandemic has already caused one game to be rescheduled this week, as the Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Baltimore Ravens game was moved from Thanksgiving to Sunday and then to Tuesday night.

Sidelined with rib fractures and a collapsed lung, New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees gave way to Taysom Hill for the team's 24-9 defeat over the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday.

His review of his replacement? 

"Listen, I thought he played great," Brees told team reporter Mike Nabors (h/t ProFootballTalk). "I thought he managed everything about this week, about the preparation and then obviously just the way he played. I thought it was magnificent."

Hill threw for 233 yards on 18-of-23 passing without an interception and rushed for 51 yards and two touchdowns on 10 carries. 

His performance helped the Saints crawl back from a 9-3 deficit for the win. 

Hill has appeared in all 10 games for the Saints this season, starting four, but Sunday marked his first start at quarterback. Before Sunday, the former BYU QB ran for 186 yards on 34 carries, caught 74 yards on six receptions and passed for 86 yards on 4-for-5 passing. 

In three previous seasons on the Saints, where he has played since 2017 after the Green Bay Packers waived him from their practice squad, the 6'2", 221-pounder moved around on offense and appeared on special teams. In 37 college games, he tallied 6,929 passing yards with 43 touchdown passes with a 58.2 completion percentage (609 of 1,047) while adding 2,815 rushing yards and 32 touchdowns on 534 carries.

The 30-year-old credited Brees with helping him prepare for his first NFL start under center (h/t Deseret News):

"I didn't fully understand what it took to be a starter in the NFL until I got here and had the opportunity to learn from Drew. Drew was with me every step of the way this week as we watched film. He was constantly asking me what I needed and how he could be helpful. He was so critical, such a comfort for me to have around."

With Brees on injured reserve, the Saints will look to Hill for at least the next two weeks in outings against the Denver Broncos and a rematch against the Atlanta Falcons. After Sunday's outing against Atlanta, they can be confident in doing so. 

After Taysom Hill led the New Orleans Saints to a win in his first career start as a quarterback, Drew Brees was as proud as anyone.

"I love you," Brees said to Hill after the game, per Peter King of NBC Sports. "You deserve this."

Hill had been behind Brees on the depth chart for the last four years, playing limited snaps on special teams, receiver or as a wildcat quarterback. When the starter went down with 11 fractures in his ribs, the Saints turned to Hill for Sunday's game against the Atlanta Falcons.

The 30-year-old responded with 233 passing yards plus two rushing touchdowns in the 24-9 win.

There was reportedly debate within the organization about who to start between Hill and Jameis Winston, but head coach Sean Payton wanted to get a look at Hill to evaluate his potential future as a quarterback, per ESPN's Adam Schefter.

It was only one game, but Hill passed the first test, and Brees is happy with what he saw from his long-time teammate.