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Drew Brees, Saints blame Thursday game for all those injuries

Drew Brees, Saints blame Thursday game for all those injuries

Drew Brees, Saints blame Thursday game for all those injuries

Saint after Saint went out of Thursday night's loss to the Falcons.

Alvin Kamara and Senio Kelemete (concussions), A.J. Klein and Kenny Vaccaro (groin injuries), also Trey Hendrickson, Michael Thomas, Mark Ingram and Ted Ginn Jr. Eight players, all of whom left the game, some able to return.

"It's 100 percent a product of playing on Thursday night," Saints quarterback Drew Brees told reporters (via The Advocate of Baton Rouge, La.) "You understand what guy's bodies go through in a game, and then to turn around four days later and play a game? Look at the injury studies. They're off the charts. Is this smart, as it pertains to guys' health and safety? No, absolutely not."

Saints coach Sean Payton queried the media.

"Seriously, speak up," Payton said. "What do you guys think, why do you think there were so many injuries tonight?"

The Advocate noted that several of the injured players already were battling nagging ailments that normally would've had time to heal more thoroughly before a next game.

Not with this short week, Vaccaro said.

“When you play three days later, three days after a tough game against Carolina, it started swelling up on me and got real sore," the safety said of his injured groin. "It just got to the point where I started feeling my adductor (muscle). I had to make a decision, do I want to stay in there and potentially hurt it again, or do I want get rested up play next week against the Jets?"

The Saints' concerns echo what the Seahawks said last month after an injury-marred win over the Cardinals.


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Three takeaways from Falcons' win over Saints

It's pretty clear the topic of Thursday games has been discussed among players and likely will come up in the future, say when the next collective bargaining agreement is being negotiated.

"No player likes putting himself at risk on four days' rest, to come and put their bodies through what they put them through," Brees said. "You hope it's addressed, you hope it's talked about, and you hope that something is done about it."