Drew Brees makes fun of himself, praises Jameis Winston
Retired Saints quarterback Drew Brees made a joke at his own expense while watching Jameis Winston score his fifth touchdown against the Green Bay Packers on Sunday. Brees joked that he had been holding back the Saints for the last few years and now Winston was making them shine.
Drew Brees praise for Jameis Winston
Brees was in good spirits watching his former team open the season with a convincing win over the Packers. Patrick Netherton of the Patrick Netherton Show on Louisiana radio detailed just how good he was feeling:
“Drew Brees commenting on the Jameis Winston deep pass touchdown to Deonte Harris: ‘I guess apparently this is what the Saints have been missing the last few years.”
This isn’t the first time that Brees has levied praise at his replacement in New Orleans. Winston signed with the Saints two offseasons ago following 2019 to sit and learn behind Brees. Now that Brees is gone and Winston has been named the starter, it will be an interesting transition in New Orleans this season. Brees thinks that Winston will have plenty of success.
“Jameis is gonna do really well,” Brees said while covering a preseason game for his former team. “And I think that he has really developed a rapport with guys like Marquez Callaway, who had a big preseason along with Juwan Johnson, who moved from receiver to tight end and came up with some big catches as well.”
The former Florida State Seminoles star was selected first overall in the 2015 NFL Draft by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In his NFL career, Winston has thrown for 19,812 yards, 131 total touchdowns and 88 interceptions. He has thrown for at least 4,000 yards three times. In 2019, Winston threw an impressive 5,109 yards and 33 touchdowns, but led the NFL with 30 interceptions.
A happy ending to a rough week for the Saints
The Saints had been displaced from their home facilities in New Orleans due to the effects of Hurricane Ida. Their opening-week game against the Packers had to be relocated due to the Superdome being unavailable and was held in Jacksonville, Florida in the Jaguars’ home arena.
There was no major damage to their home arena, but ESPN’s Adam Schefter posted some pictures of the issues at their practice facilities. Not to mention that most areas in the city are still without running water and electricity.
The Saints packed up and left New Orleans before Ida even made landfall on Aug. 29. They canceled their final preseason game against the Arizona Cardinals, which was scheduled for the night before, finishing off the preseason at 1-1.
As the Saints are unable to practice in their home facilities due to Hurricane Ida, TCU has offered a helping hand, giving the New Orleans Saints use of their football facilities while the team is displaced.
On3’s Tim Verghese contributed to this article.