Timing of Drew Brees’ placement on IR likely means he’ll miss four games

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The latest Drew Brees injury seemed to spark an internal tug-of-war over whether he’d be placed on injured reserve. The issue became resolved on Friday, when Brees exited the 53-man roster for IR.

The timing of the move, however, makes it likely that he’ll miss more than three games. By rule, he can’t return to practice until three weeks after placement on the list. Thus, after missing the Week 11 game against the Saints and the Week 12 game at Denver and the Week 13 game at Atlanta, Brees won’t be eligible to take the practice field until the Friday before a Week 14 game at the Eagles.

Even if he plays, he will have had little if any practice time in advance of the game. It’s not very possible, if not likely, that we’ll next see Brees when the Saints host the Chiefs on Sunday, December 20.

The Saint then have a quick turnaround before hosting the Vikings on Christmas Day in Week 16.

It becomes imperative for Taysom Hill and/or Jameis Winston to thrive in Brees’ absence. With the Buccaneers at 7-3, the 7-2 Saints don’t have much of a cushion in the division. They also need to keep winning to have a shot at the bye week as the No. 1 seed.