I should be finishing the football post right now

One thing I was going to note this week was Drew Brees' problems this year look to me to be physical. During the games, we frequently notice him flexing his knee as though he's working through discomfort. Every deep ball he throws just looks terrible. Last week, he was intercepted by Pittsburgh's Ike Taylor on a badly underthrown ball to Devery Henderson that looked like it should have been a touchdown. Even his successful deep ball to Robert Meachem later in the game was so weak that Meachem had to come back and field it as though it were a punt.

And so today we learn (or we think we learn) Report: Saints hiding fracture, torn meniscus in Brees' knee

Kenny Wilkerson of WIST radio in New Orleans recently reported, with a high degree of conviction and passion, that Brees has a fracture and a torn meniscus in the knee.

Wilkerson cites an "impeccable source," and he claims that the information is "100 thousand-trillion-million percent" accurate.

Wilkerson also claims that, at times, the pain is causing Brees to make mistakes when calling or executing plays, citing unnamed sources in the offensive huddle.

"100 thousand-trillion-million" has got to be like the most percents of accuracy ever assembled by one human. And yet amazingly there remain those who question this report. PFT cites Wilkerson's shocking lack of medical expertise as one reason for skepticism. Others point to his suspiciously slurred speech during the broadcast. But I'm willing to look past the source here on the grounds that the visual evidence corroborates the claim, or at least makes it plausible.

In a better world, we could just ask the player and his coaches what was wrong but, unfortunately, we live in a world where those people are paranoid lying dickwads.

Update: Payton is denying the report at his press conference today.

Payton said the report on Brees' knee is "inaccurate.... completely false."

Which, of course, only further feeds our suspicions. Everyone knows that "100 thousand-trillion-million percent accurate" is more than "completely false"

Upperdate: Brees responds and matches the percentage ante

When approached in the open locker room session with media Thursday afternoon, Brees joked about the report before saying that reporters see him every day working without a brace, which he hasn't worn in two games.

He also did jumping jacks in front of his locker and said he practiced drop-kicks during practice. When asked if he could do drop-kicks with an injured knee, he said he was "100 thousand-trillion-million percent" sure it would hurt if he did have an injured leg.

Also, there was this.

When told some questioned arm strength on deep balls. Brees: I'd like to watch film w/those people.

To which we say, when would you like to come over? You can even bring Bowen.