I honestly really don't care if there are people who know more than I do. I'm just looking at this from a common sense perspective. It's likely by week 14 the Saints will be looking at playoff clinching scenarios, if not already clinched a playoff spot. That's going to limit the meaning of subsequent games.

The objective of the season is to win a Superbowl. Not to play what IMHO is going to be a rather useless game against the Eagles. If Brees is at 85% week 14 and taking another week off gets him to 95%, then it's rather foolish and risky to put him out there because he meets the technical definition of ready.

All it takes is one play just like the one a couple of weeks ago that makes Brees unavailable for the playoffs. He doesn't need a 4 game warmup for the playoffs.

Personally, I'd be perfectly fine if he sat through the KC game, played at Minnesota, then sit again week 17 to get ready for playoff football.

Let's not lose sight of the goal over ego. Brees has nothing to prove to any of us except to hoist the Lombardi again. So, if sitting out a extra game or two, or three, sets him up to be as healthy as possible for the playoffs, then I think that's the smart move.

SFIAH

One play can happen whether the player is at 75% or 100%. At this time of year most every player is at somewhere around 80% max! Besides, every game counts. Getting that first round bye is critical. Settling for simply getting a playoff spot clinched is hopefully not in their mindset.

Besides, there's no reason Brees shouldn't be healthy by the Eagles game. That's still a full three weeks away. The left side will have had five weeks to completely heal and the right (less fractures) four weeks. The lung should be pretty much healed by now. The timetable is around two weeks from what I have been told for a minor puncture and that has to have been what he had or he would have been hospitalized and not walking the sideline the remainder of the game.

My point is that the one play doesn't occur if the player is not in the game. The less exposure that Brees has during the regular season, the less likely that he'll be reinjured before the playoffs start.

We're talking about two completely different things. You are discussing Brees' injuries. I'm talking about how completely meaningless the Eagles game is in the scope of the season. Presuming the Saints go 3-0 in this Failclowns-Broncos-Failclowns stretch of games without Brees, the team will have proven that they can beat mediocre teams without Brees. So, then what's the point of exposing him to additional wear and tear?

I hope we can agree that the Saints need Brees to win the SuperBowl. It is unlikely they need him to beat the Eagles. Just give him another week off so that he can be better prepared for the playoff run, which is the only important agenda for the season.

SFIAH