Show me the interview where Payton said this. I have seen EVERY interview and read EVERY story on this subject since the injury happened. I never heard that timeline. There may have been speculation on how long recovery would be given another method of repair, but since the process was identified and used the timeline was never longer than five to six weeks.

My perspective as a fan is that I always hope for the best, not expect the worst. The best that I could hope for was that the surgery would be successful and Brees could be back sooner rather than later because he gives us a better chance to keep winning than does Bridgewater.

EVERY game is important. A foolish loss to the Cardinals could cost us homefield advantage AND a shot at the Super Bowl. If the doctors, and the team, and Brees himself feel is ready to play then what would be the logic in holding him out? To calm the fears of ignorant (meaning unknowing) fans?

Payton said in an interview that it take 3 months to fully heal from this injury. So no, Brees will not be 100%. It takes 6-8 weeks with the stabilizing strip to regain the strength and stability to have control. As a speculating fan, I would rather Brees take the extra two weeks to continue the rehabilitation and strengthening without the risk of a setback from this game.

I would rather come of out this game saying we will have Brees ready for Atlanta than to rush him back and they question if we rushed him back if he doesn’t have a good game. That’s my perspective as a fan.

That's EXACTLY the points I have been trying to make. I have pointed out that the doctors KNOW when the healing is finished and they KNOW that when Brees is ready there is no reason to keep him out.

You and Oak are both using the same faulty logic to argue your points. It's true that the doctors know MORE about what's going on than we do, as fans, but first of all, doctors make mistakes, and secondly, it is NOT "necessarily" true that IF they let him play this week he is therefore fully healed.

There have been countless instances in the history of sports injuries where a guy was given "a go" to play, because the player really wanted to come back, and the doctors thought he was far enough along that it wasn't a big risk... Only for a major setback to occur, anyway.

if this were the playoffs, the risk might be worth it. Instead, it's Arizona, and there is a bye week immediately following. Yes the Cardinals have won three straight, but no, they haven't beaten a team who is close to being good. The Saints seem to be doing just fine for the time being, without Drew.

I will say yet again that I have no idea what percentage Drew is at in his healing process. I'm merely stating that I would HOPE that IF if isn't fully healthy, they wouldn't bring him back needlessly. That opinion is 100% derived from the bad decisions I have seen teams make in the past. All we will know as fans is that Drew will either play, or he won't. We won't know how healthy he is, and no one is going to tell us. That's why we have opinions. No one is trying to state fact, except you.

Here you go! This is one article when he was interviewed. There is another one that I’m looking for.

https://wgno.com/2019/10/23/brees-on...-well-see/amp/

And so what happens if he has a setback or isn’t truly ready and has an off game due to inaccurate passes. I don’t know what else Bridgewater needs to do. All I wanted from him was to take care of the ball and not cost us a game. He has done that and more. Also MT numbers are the same, maybe slightly better per game with Bridgewater so far. We will see what decision is made on Sunday but it seems that you have not faith in Bridgewater even though he is undefeated so far this season and getting better each week.

You and Oak are both using the same faulty logic to argue your points. It's true that the doctors know MORE about what's going on than we do, as fans, but first of all, doctors make mistakes, and secondly, it is NOT "necessarily" true that IF they let him play this week he is therefore fully healed.

There have been countless instances in the history of sports injuries where a guy was given "a go" to play, because the player really wanted to come back, and the doctors thought he was far enough along that it wasn't a big risk... Only for a major setback to occur, anyway.

if this were the playoffs, the risk might be worth it. Instead, it's Arizona, and there is a bye week immediately following. Yes the Cardinals have won three straight, but no, they haven't beaten a team who is close to being good. The Saints seem to be doing just fine for the time being, without Drew.

I will say yet again that I have no idea what percentage Drew is at in his healing process. I'm merely stating that I would HOPE that IF if isn't fully healthy, they wouldn't bring him back needlessly. That opinion is 100% derived from the bad decisions I have seen teams make in the past. All we will know as fans is that Drew will either play, or he won't. We won't know how healthy he is, and no one is going to tell us. That's why we have opinions. No one is trying to state fact, except you.

And if they play Teddy and we lose? And we lose the homefield advantage? And we lose on the road in the NFCCG?

Give me Brees.

You said Payton said in an interview, not Brees and NOT today.

And Bridgewater has improved every week, but he is still not close to Brees in his ability to hit the receivers. And, no, I don't have anywhere near as much confidence in Teddy that I have in Brees. We need every game.

Brees also said that the surgeon said that he has to also wear an external brace on the thumb to provide additional stability to the joint until it is 100% healed. So no, he isn’t 100%. Game pressure is different than practice pressure.

No one hear isn’t looking forward to Brees coming back. Some are looking further down the road. I’m looking at the rest of the season and the playoffs. With a healthy Brees and the way all three phases of our team is to playing I feel we can go anywhere and win. Even if its the NFCCG on the road.