When will Drew Brees return?

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Saints quarterback Drew Brees is eligible to return to practice on Friday (not today), and he’s eligible to play as soon as Sunday at Philadelphia.

So when will he be back from multiple broken ribs and a collapsed lung, and who will make the decision?

“I would imagine like anything else it would be the doctors and the player,” Saint coach Sean Payton said during a Tuesday appearance on PFT PM. “I know we kind of stay up to speed on it. There’s a little bit with his injury of like watching spaghetti boil where you’ve gotta let it heal and it’s a little different than maybe soft tissue or a bone bruise . . . . There’s X amount of time that’s needed. This is the week he’s eligible to come off of Reserve/Injured. The rule this year was if someone goes on you’re on for a three-week minimum. But each day we’ll get an update as to how he’s doing. A lot of it is, ‘How does it feel?’ I’ve you’ve ever like really thrown a baseball, a football, or anything and then you realize your ribcage and all the soft tissue and muscles surrounding it. It’s pretty painful. And that’s the thing is to be able to function without those side effects or things that might hurt your play.”

It’s hard to envision Brees returning for Sunday’s game at Philadelphia. It’s impossible to envision Brees missing the following Sunday’s game, a showdown with the Chiefs and Patrick Mahomes.

“Drew’s the guy and if he says he can go then he’s gonna go,” quarterback Taysom Hill told PFT after Sunday’s win over the Falcons. “I think I’m in a situation where I’ve got to prepare as if I’m gonna go in case he can’t.”

Brees surely wants to play ASAFP. The Saints surely want to know he’ll be healthy and effective when he does return. And the Saints likely prefer a 100-percent Hill over a diminished Brees.