Yes, Sean Payton has done it again.
At a time when it’s virtually impossible to keep under wraps the identity of a team’s starting quarterback because too many people know the identity of the quarterback who is taking the first-team reps at practice, the Saints have pulled it off this year. Twice.
Last month, the Saints kept under wraps the fact that Taysom Hill took all first-team reps for the first game without Drew Brees. Last week, the Saints kept under wraps the fact that Brees took all first-team reps as he returned from injured reserve.
Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports that Brees and the Saints “knew very early in the week” that Brees would start today against the Chiefs. Brees took all first-team practice reps, and Hill resumed his prior jack-of-all-trades role.
The misinformation campaign was masterful. Last Sunday, Jay Glazer of FOX called a Brees return on Christmas Day against the Vikings “more of a viable target” than a Week 15 resumption of duties against the Chiefs. On Thursday, Rapoport himself said Brees won’t play until he’s “asymptomatic,” without anyone (including Rapoport) realizing the decision already had been made. On Thursday, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com highlighted Payton’s public comment from Wednesday that Brees still has “a ways to go” and that “we’re not gonna just hurry [Brees] back and just put him in the game.”
All’s fair in love, war, and football. Lying for strategic reasons isn’t simply accepted in the sport, it’s regarded as an art form. And Payton is Pablo Picasso.
So it will Patrick Mahomes vs. Drew Brees this afternoon, and Brees is as prepared as he would have been in any week before he broke nearly all of his ribs.
