Drew Brees Has No Timetable to Return from Rib Injury, Per Saints' Sean Payton

New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton doesn't have a timeline for the return of his star quarterback Drew Brees, who landed on injured reserve Nov. 20 with 11 total rib fractures.

"I honestly wouldn't be able to give you a time frame," Payton said Monday, per Katherine Terrell of The Athletic. "He's like a handful of the other guys that are down there working their tails off to get back healthy, 100 percent and we'll kind of see when that is."

Brees is eligible to rejoin the team for its Week 14 road trip to face the Philadelphia Eagles, but it will ultimately depend on his recovery. 

The Saints signal-caller sustained two fractures Nov. 8 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, then several more and a collapsed lung against the San Francisco 49ers a week later, when he left the game early. 

Brees has started all but nine games for New Orleans since 2004, with the bulk of his absence coming at the start of 2019 when he had surgery to fix a torn ligament in his thumb and missed five games.

With the 13-time Pro Bowler sidelined, New Orleans has turned largely to Taysom Hill as the team's starter despite the presence of Jameis Winston on the roster.

Winston played most of the snaps under center during the 49ers game and threw six passes for 63 yards, but he hasn't produced anything else since.

As a dual-threat quarterback, Hill led the Saints to the win in Week 11 when he completed 18 of 23 passes for 233 yards and ran for 49 yards and two touchdowns. His Week 12 performance wasn't as strong, though, as he recorded nine completions for 78 yards added 44 rushing yards. 

In Week 13's win over the Atlanta Falcons, Hill threw for 232 yards and two touchdowns on 27-of-37 passing.