Chiefs vs. Saints Injury Updates: Drew Brees, Eric Fisher Expected to Start
After a tumultuous week of practice, it appears that the New Orleans Saints will start quarterback Drew Brees against the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday, and the Chiefs should have starting left tackle Eric Fisher available after missing most of the week with a back injury.
Numerous reports Friday morning indicated that the Saints expect Brees to return to the starting lineup after suffering broken ribs and a punctured lung several weeks ago. This would return Taysom Hill to a jack-of-all-trades role, with Jameis Winston backing Brees up, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter.
Carla Antoine of Saints News Network noted what Saints head coach Sean Payton said on Thursday about Brees' progress over the week and what they needed to see before they would send Brees back into the huddle.
"Throwing without soreness," Payton remarked. "There's a process, and last week with the trainers, he had one throwing day and yesterday (Wednesday), the same way. So it's really (being) asymptomatic, feeling good, strong, and like, you can function and be an asset and play well."
On the Chiefs side of the injury report, left tackle Eric Fisher returned to practice on Friday after not practicing due to a back injury on Wednesday and Thursday. The Kansas City Star's Herbie Teope noted that Mike Remmers was not seen at practice, who is also dealing with a back issue. Head coach Andy Reid later confirmed that Remmers did not practice, but Fisher did. Reid said "we'll wait and see how that all works out" regarding Remmers. Reid later said they won't list Remmers as out for Sunday.
When asked about how Fisher looked during practice on Friday, Reid complimented Fisher's toughness and said he looked good on the practice field.
"He did a nice job today, we'll just see how he feels this evening and into tomorrow, but he moved around good today," Reid said.
Later in the afternoon, Eric Fisher was listed as questionable and Mike Remmers was listed as doubtful for Sunday's game.
When Remmers left the game against the Miami Dolphins last weekend, undrafted rookie free agent Yasir Durant stepped in at right tackle, playing a career-high 24 snaps.
With Mitchell Schwartz still on injured reserve, Remmers not practicing all week and Fisher returning on Friday, expect Fisher and Durant to start at the tackle spots with Martinas Rankin active as the emergency-emergency tackle, if the Chiefs believe he's ready for his first NFL snaps since suffering his knee injury against the Tennessee Titans last year. For more potential configurations of the offensive line, click here to read Tucker Franklin's story from Thursday.
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