ESPN’s Pat Yasinkas reports New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton has clearly shot down this morning’s rumor that QB Drew Brees has been playing with a significant knee injury. From two different approaches, this isn’t surprising.
First, it’s not surprising that this rumor is probably not true. The source didn’t appear to be in line for a Pulitzer as it was.
Second, it’s not surprising that Payton is denying it, whether it’s true or not, as he is among the world’s most fluent speakers of coach, the language best embodied by New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick, Florida Gators coach Urban Meyer, and even Atlanta Falcons coach Mike Smith. Smith’s dialect carries much less wallop than the legends are capable of — Smitty doesn’t make his target feel like an idiot for asking whether Player X is actually all that hurt, making him only a fluent coach speaker and not a scholar.
Also Payton’s denial doesn’t mean that Brees hasn’t been injured worse than thought, just that he’s not at the moment. My head hurts.