Drew Brees leaves after his thumb gets hit, Teddy Bridgewater goes in for Saints

New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees has been an iron man in his career, but he had to come out of Sunday’s game after a fluky injury to his hand.

Brees was following through on a pass as Los Angeles Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald rushed him. Donald tried to knock the pass down, and Brees’ hand hit Donald’s hand. He went to the sideline, got his thumb taped up, and when the Saints got the ball back Brees was out of the game. Teddy Bridgewater took his place, but couldn’t get much going in a 27-9 loss. Brees didn’t return to the game.

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The Saints invested in Bridgewater as one of the league’s most valuable backups, but New Orleans hoped it wouldn’t have to use him. We don’t know yet if Bridgewater will start next week, or after that. Saints coach Sean Payton said the team will run tests and have an update in two days.

Brees didn’t offer much more information but said he has never had that much trouble gripping the ball. He will stay in Los Angeles to see a specialist, he said.

Brees has missed only one game in his Saints career due to injury, and that came in 2015. He has sat a couple other games when the Saints had their playoff spot locked up by Week 17, but mostly he has been incredibly durable. That’s ironic because his health was a huge question after he injured his shoulder in the final game of his Chargers career and then signed with the Saints as a free agent.

Bridgewater has experience. He is a former first-round pick of the Vikings and led that team to an NFC North title. His career got sidetracked by a devastating knee injury in practice, but he came back to play well for the Jets in the 2018 preseason. The Saints traded for Bridgewater before last season, then gave him a one-year, $7.25 million deal when he was a free agent this past offseason.

Bridgewater didn’t play well on short notice. He went 17-of-30 for 165 yards and the Saints didn’t score a touchdown.

For the time being, Saints fans will be hoping for the best on the tests for Brees’ thumb.

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Frank Schwab is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shutdown.corner@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @YahooSchwab

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