Sometimes, facts get in the way of a good story.
On Monday night, Adam Schefter of ESPN reported that quarterback Drew Brees considered emerging from retirement to play for the Broncos in the AFC Championship, given the injury that happened to starter Bo Nix late in the divisional-round win over the Bills.
There’s only one problem with that. Brees, as PFT has confirmed, remains on the Saints’ reserve-retired list. A retired player must return by the Tuesday after Week 13 in any given year. After that, he can’t play for anyone.
Then there’s the fact that the Saints would have had to release Brees from the reserve-retired list. He then would have been subject to waivers.
That doesn’t mean the Broncos didn’t talk to Brees, as Schefter reports. If, however, then-offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi and offensive assistant Pete Carmichael spoke to Brees without permission from the Saints, it would have been tampering.
Which leads to the next question. Will the league investigate the Broncos for tampering, based on Schefter’s report? Even without a complaint from the Saints, the league could take action.
It never got to the point at which the Broncos or Brees realized that the rules would block the move, because Brees had “discomfort” in his wrist. Then there’s the fact that Brees has said he can’t throw at all with his right arm due to his shoulder injury from 2005 — and that he throws better with his left.
So while the whole thing sounds good, it’s a big, fat nothing burger which, if anything, will get the Broncos in hot water for tampering with a player whose rights remain with another team.
Saints Clips
Ravens wide receiver Zay Flowers was on his way to a monster day against the Colts, but his hamstring kept him from building on his big start to the 2026 season.
Flowers had been bothered by a hamstring injury leading up to Week 1, although it didn’t stop him from catching five passes for 150 yards and a touchdown in the first 25 minutes of the game. He aggravated the injury at some point, however, and did not play at all over the rest of the 41-23 Baltimore victory.
PFT reported on Sunday that Flowers was considered questionable for Week 2 and head coach Jesse Minter said the same during his Monday press conference.
“Zay’s probably a little bit more like in the day-to-day range,” Minter said. “Feel pretty good about where that’s at, we’ll see how the week goes though.”
Rookie wideout Ja’Kobi Lane also left the win and a report on Sunday said he was believed to have a fracture. Minter said that they are still evaluating Lane’s injury, but that it looks like he will be out for a longer period of time than Flowers.
When the Saints scored a touchdown against the Lions with 1:34 remaining in overtime on Sunday, they could have kicked the extra point to tie the game, then hoped that either their defense could get the ball back so they could win, or at least hold the Lions’ offense to preserve a tie. Instead, Saints head coach Kellen Moore decided to go for two, and end the game right there, one way or the other.
The way it ended was the Saints lost: Tyler Shough’s two-point conversion pass was incomplete out the back of the end zone, and the Saints walked off the field 0-1. After the game, Moore said he thinks he made the right call.
“There was 1:34 left. That’s a really talented offense. We had a chance to go win the football game,” Moore said. “I really viewed it as we’re going for two there to win the game, if we have a chance.”
The Saints also decided to kick off at the start of overtime, thinking they’d rather get the ball second and know what they have to do. Deciding to kick at the start of overtime played into the decision to go for two at the end of overtime: Because the Saints had the second possession, Moore knew what his team had to do, and what his team had to do was score a two-point conversion. It didn’t work, but Moore still thinks it was the right call.
On Sunday in Detroit, an apparent Jared Goff fumble that was picked up and returned for a Saints touchdown was overturned on replay. Lions head coach Dan Campbell was pleasantly surprised.
Campbell admitted after the game that while watching the play, he thought Goff fumbled. He didn’t realize until the officials explained it to him that Goff starting his throwing motion made it an incomplete pass, even though the ball traveled backward after it was knocked out of Goff’s hand.
“I’ll take that one. I’ll be the first to say, I thought we lost that one. The arm was going forward, it had a forward motion, that was how they saw it. We got one. We’ll take that,” Campbell said.
The replay ruling was correct, but counterintuitive: It would seem that when a quarterback throws the ball backward, that makes it a backward pass. Under NFL rules, however, if the quarterback has started a forward throwing motion, it’s a forward pass even if a defender hits the quarterback mid-throw to send the ball backward. That was a rule many people learned for the first time on Sunday. Including Campbell.
The Ravens will be without one of their key rookies for some time.
Per Mike Garafolo of NFL Network, Ja’Kobi Lane is believed to have suffered a fractured wrist in Sunday’s season-opening victory over the Colts. Lane will undergo more testing on Monday, including an MRI, to fully diagnose the injury.
Lane had one catch for 11 yards before he exited the contest.
The Ravens also lost receiver Zay Flowers during the contest, as he aggravated the hamstring injury he suffered during training camp.
Baltimore will play New Orleans in Week 2.
Ravens receiver Zay Flowers had an impressive first half in Indianapolis, with five catches for 150 yards. But his 54-yard touchdown catch-and-run included a tweaking of his hamstring.
And while he returned to the game, catching one more pass, he ended up exiting in the first half and not returning.
Per a source with knowledge of the situation, Flowers aggravated the hamstring injury suffered in joint practices against the Vikings. He missed a couple of weeks of practice, before returning to action on September 3.
“I feel great. I feel better than ever,” Flowers said Thursday. “I am ready to play football. I feel like we have been off for a while. Our season ended a bit early last year, so we had an extended break. We’re just ready to go.”
He’s questionable for next week’s visit from the Saints.
If Flowers can’t go, there will be more opportunities for LaJohntay Wester and Chris Moore. (The Ravens also lost receiver Ja’Kobi Lane to a wrist injury.)
The Lions and Saints played an epic Week 1 game that couldn’t be decided in 60 minutes, but after each team scored an overtime touchdown, Detroit ultimately prevailed.
Saints quarterback Tyler Shough’s two-point conversion pass was incomplete out the back of the end zone on the final play of overtime, and the Lions survived 31-30.
For most of the game, it looked like the Lions would win easily: Detroit led 21-0 in the third quarter and seemed poised to cruise to an easy win. Instead, the Lions choked the lead away and easily could have lost in regulation: Saints kicker Daniel Carlson lined up for a game-winning field goal as time expired in the fourth quarter, but his 62-yard attempt missed.
There were some positives for the Lions: Jahmyr Gibbs, whom the Lions made the highest-paid running back in the NFL last month, delivered in a big way, with 156 yards rushing and two touchdowns. And Aidan Hutchinson sacked Shough twice. But for the Lions, the big question coming out of the game is why they couldn’t put the Saints away when they should have.
For the Saints, it was a heartbreaking loss but a sign that Shough is starting to grow within Kellen Moore’s offense. The heavily favored Lions won, but the Saints have to feel good about the way they fought until the end.
Lions running back Jahmyr Gibbs became the highest-paid running back in the NFL last month, and he’s doing his best to show he’s worth the money.
It’s still the first quarter of Week One, and Gibbs already has nine carries for 47 yards, plus a one-yard touchdown that gave the Lions a 7-0 lead over the Saints. Gibbs is the sixth player in NFL history to score 50 touchdowns within his first 50 games.
Gibbs is looking good early on, and so is Lions tight end Sam LaPorta, who has caught both passes Jared Goff has thrown to him, for 27 yards.
The Saints’ offense has had one possession, on which they gained one first down before punting. They’re going to need to do more than that to keep up with this Lions offense.
A report on Sunday morning indicated cornerback Joey Porter Jr. was unlikely to be in the Steelers’ lineup for their season-opening game against the Falcons and official word on his status came 90 minutes before kickoff in Pittsburgh.
Porter is officially inactive for the game. Porter was listed as questionable with a back injury after spending all of training camp on the physically unable to perform list.
Porter’s inactivity this summer was also thought to be connected to his desire for a contract extension that never came together. That has reportedly opened the door to a trade as the Steelers have a team policy against negotiating contracts during the regular season.
Updates on where things stand with Porter for Week 2’s game against the Patriots and beyond will likely come this week. For Sunday, though, he’ll just be a spectator.
Falcons at Steelers
Falcons: QB Tua Tagovailoa, QB Michael Penix, DB Billy Bowman, DB Malcom DeWalt, LB Christian Harris, OL Ethan Onianwa
Steelers: CB Joey Porter Jr., QB Drew Allar, G Gennings Dunker, DL Kevin Jobity, DL Gabe Rubio, QB Will Howard
Bears at Panthers
Bears: QB Tyson Bagent, S Xavier Woods, OT Ozzy Trapilo, OL Jordan McFadden, DL Jayden Loving, DL Jamree Kromah, QB Miller Moss.
Panthers: TE Ja’Tavion Sanders, WR John Metchie, QB Haynes King, S Zakee Wheatley, OT Albert Reese, LB Patrick Jones, DT Cam Jackson
Buccaneers at Bengals
Buccaneers: DL DeMonte Capehart, CB Ayden Garnes, WR Jalen McMillan, G Billy Schrauth, DL Elijah Simmons, OT Justin Skule, RB Sean Tucker
Bengals: WR Ke’Shawn Williams, CB Josh Newton, OT Myles Hinton, C Connor Lew, TE Jack Endries, DT Landon Robinson, DE Shemar Stewart
Saints at Lions
Saints: TE Oscar Delp, RB Alvin Kamara, OT Mason Murphy, DE Cam Jordan, DT John Ridgeway, DT Khristian Boyd, QB Zach Wilson
Lions: CB Christian Izien, LB Jimmy Rolder, DE Ahmed Hassanein, CB Ennis Rakestraw, DL Mekhi Wingo
Bills at Texans
Bills: RB Ty Johnson, WR Skyler Bell, OT Jude Bowry, G Ar’maj Reed-Adams, DL T.J. Sanders, LB Mike Danna, S Jalon Kilgore
Texans: OL Febechi Nwaiwu, CB Collin Wright, LB Aiden Fisher, OL Nate Thomas, DL Jaden Crumedy, TE Brevin Jordan
Ravens at Colts
Ravens: QB Joe Fagnano, WR Devontez Walker, WR Elijah Sarratt, G Emery Jones, CB Chandler Rivers, DT Nnamdi Madubuike, LB Teddye Buchanan
Colts: LB Austin Ajiake, CB Jonathan Edwards, RB DJ Giddens, DE George Gumbs, QB Riley Leonard, G Dalton Tucker
Browns at Jaguars
Browns: QB Taylen Green, LB Justin Jefferson, CB Noah Igbinoghene, S Daniel Thomas, CB Toriano Pride, C Parker Brailsford, G Teven Jenkins
Jaguars: QB Quinn Ewers, S Jalen Huskey, DE Bryan Thomas, OL Daniel Faalele, TE Tanner Koziol, DE Wesley Williams
Jets at Titans
Jets: CB D’Angelo Ponds, RB Kene Nwangwu, K Blake Grupe, LB Trevin Wallace, LB Joseph Ossai
Titans: CB Jaylon Jones, OL Atonio Mafi, RB Nick Singleton, LB Cedric Gray, DT Jackie Marshall, OT Brandon Crenshaw-Dickson, LB Owen Pappoe
The Saints are set to open the 2026 season without running back Alvin Kamara.
Kamara suffered a sprained MCL last month and returned to practice this week. He was a limited participant for two days before fully participating in Friday’s practice, but was listed as questionable on the team’s final injury report.
Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports that Kamara is not expected to play against the Lions as he continues to recover.
Free agent acquisition Travis Etienne will be the top back for New Orleans. Kendre Miller is the other running back on the 53-man roster and the Saints elevated CJ Donaldson from their practice squad for Sunday’s game.
