Sean Payton once wondered if injured Drew Brees was as good as the Saints would get
“More than a Saint” traces Brees’ uneven return from shoulder surgery to the accuracy and preparation that defined his career.
NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) - Drew Brees’ first practices with the New Orleans Saints did not resemble the precision passing that would later define his career.
Brees was still recovering from a major injury to his throwing shoulder when he joined the Saints in 2006. He did not begin his throwing program until the team’s training camp at Millsaps College in Jackson, Mississippi.
“I can vividly remember my first few training camp practices,” Brees said. “Literally sitting there throwing slants into the dirt.”
Brees recalled Sean Payton looking toward quarterbacks coach Pete Carmichael as if to ask whether that was as good as the Saints were going to get from their new quarterback.
“Pete’s like, no, don’t worry. It’s coming,” Brees said.
Brees was not the only person facing a difficult transition.
The National Guard was still operating from the Saints’ facility when the team left for five weeks of training camp in Jackson.
Brees compared it to a “Junction Boys type training camp,” with Payton attempting to break down the team before building it back up.
The Saints then endured what Brees described as a horrendous preseason.
“The training camp that we all survived in ’06, I think that brought us closer together as a unit,” Former Saints wide receiver Marques Colston said.
As the season progressed, Brees began shaking off the rust and reestablishing himself.
The passes that initially hit the dirt soon stopped hitting the ground at all.
“There were practices, the ball never touched the ground,” Payton said. “That’s what I remember. Just his location.”
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Those who worked with Brees said his athletic ability was often overlooked because of his height.
Payton described him as a “tremendous foot athlete” who could dunk a basketball and had beaten future tennis star Andy Roddick in youth competition.
“He was so good in the pocket that you really didn’t pay attention to how he was moving,” Payton said. “It just seemed effortless.”
Brees was consistently balanced, his delivery was quick and his overall athleticism was described as “off-the-charts.”
His preparation was just as important.
Saints defensive end Cam Jordan said Brees embodied the description of the first player to arrive and the last to leave. He approached practices, walkthroughs and games with the same attention to detail.
Even a completed pass for a gain of 30 or 40 yards might not satisfy him if he believed he had made the wrong read.
“No, run it back,” Brees would say, according to Jordan. “I don’t like that read. I want this read.”
The correct read could turn the same play into a touchdown.
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Brees’ accuracy also became the subject of practice challenges. Former Saints running back Pierre Thomas recalled placing a trash can 30 or 40 yards away and watching him repeatedly drop the football inside it.
Some saw an undersized quarterback without the strongest arm. His teammates saw a passer who could put the ball exactly where only his receiver could reach it.
“But his accuracy is unmatched,” Jordan said. “His ability to get the deep ball right perfectly where only his receiver can catch it is what separates him.”
The quarterback who began camp throwing slants into the dirt was ready for the moment New Orleans had been waiting for.
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