METAIRIE, La. (AP) -Drew Brees warns that the New Orleans Saints’ big preseason offensive numbers don’t mean much.
They have scored 38 and 45 points in their last two exhibition games and are 3-0 without much competition thus far.
“It’s preseason,” Brees said Sunday. “We’re holding things back just like everyone else is holding things back. We’re out there operating and running our offense, but just like us, other teams aren’t showing everything.”
The way Brees has guided the offense through the preseason, it’s difficult to take the Saints quarterback seriously considering how easy he’s made it look.
Brees threw for 266 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions combined against the Texans and Raiders the past two weeks in barely more than one half of action. Brees completely shredded the Raiders, going 14-of-17 for 179 yards and two TDs with a quarterback rating of 149.8.
with the tempo and the rhythm.”
The original plan was for Brees and the rest of the starters to play through the first half and the first series of the second half. The Saints crushed the Raiders so badly that Payton yanked Brees and much of the first unit with nearly 12 minutes remaining in the second quarter.
“Really the plan was to give them ‘X’ number of snaps and what happened was that we got those snaps earlier than expected,” Payton said. “Our plan was to go a half, come out in the second half and we thought we would’ve been close to 30 snaps there but we got to that number a little quicker. Having said that, I think the feeling offensively at that time was to get to the next group.
“The things that concern me are that I wanted to see the first group get a two-minute drill – we’re practicing it and we work on it against our defense and hopefully we can keep emphasizing that and keep working on that – but we weren’t able to get that yesterday. There are a few things by the way the game unfolded that we didn’t get to cover.”
Another positive sign for the Saints was the healthy return of wide receiver Lance Moore. He played his first game since having surgery to repair a shoulder injury in March. The Saints’ leading receiver last season came back with four catches for 29 yards and a touchdown.
“I feel good and I’m ready to keep moving,” Moore said. “There’s no more restrictions on me obviously now. The season is fast approaching and I’m ready to go. I felt like I’m not quite where I need to be, but for the most part I’m happy with the progress.”
Safety Usama Young sprained his right shoulder during the first half and Payton said he doesn’t see Young playing in the Saints’ preseason finale Thursday against the Dolphins. Young said the best thing for him is to rest his shoulder.
Tackle Jammal Brown is still recovering from a sports hernia procedure he underwent a couple of weeks ago. Brown said he’s set to be re-examined within the next two weeks, making it unclear whether he will return for Week 1 against Detroit.
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