Delvin Breaux's "Contusion" Was Actually A Fractured Fibula, And The Saints Have Finally Fired Members Of Their Medical Staff

Saints CB Delvin Breaux out 4-6 weeks with fractured fibulahttps://t.co/0x6MgI9onw pic.twitter.com/rS6olG87do

— Around The NFL (@AroundTheNFL) August 16, 2017

First, the bad news. A team that has a notoriously crappy defense and has started slower than a '79 Buick the last few seasons will be without it's long-presumed starting cornerback during what appears to be the most difficult stretch of their schedule. The fact that he was reportedly being shopped no longer matters, because now someone that was (somewhat pathetically) one of the most proven members of the secondary won't be able to contribute by play or by exchange for at least a month. I thought that moving Delvin Breaux for an inevitable underpayment would have been a huge mistake, and that's because - when healthy - he's exponentially more valuable to the Saints than he is anyone else. This injury news makes a trade that seemed unlikely (if not stupid) anyway an impossibility, but it also leaves a gapping hole on the outside of defense that will never not need improvement.

Now, the good news. Delvin Breaux is - in fact - not a baby back bitch that can't play through a bruise, and the two weeks he has spent not healing from a fractured fibula ultimately got a medical staff that is historically delayed (if not incompetent) in diagnosing injuries (i.e. doing their fucking job) canned for good. I highly doubt that adding some new orthopedists can hamstring Brandin Cooks from stretching the field come Week 2, but if they aren't illiterate when it comes to reading an x-ray then they will be a welcomed addition to the organization in the long term.

It's a massive failure - on so, so many levels - that a franchise whose locker room has seemed eternally invested by the injury bug was employing doctors that made Doogie Howser look deserving of his M.D. I don't know how many man games were unnecessarily lost or how careers were careened due to at least minimal malpractice over the years. I do know that I feel more comfortable knowing that someone other than Delvin Breaux lost their fucking job when the black-and-blue that had his coaches questioning his toughness and his front office questioning his trade value was really a broken bone. Players that were put in Keenan Lewis' position (see below) could potentially see it differently, but - goddamn it - better late than never...

Keenan Lewis speaks out on #Saints doctors pic.twitter.com/NHQi8pJZu5

— John Hendrix (@JohnJHendrix) August 16, 2017

And more from Keenan Lewis. Wouldn't expect him to be the only one to say something. pic.twitter.com/ApOeNeobv2

— John Hendrix (@JohnJHendrix) August 16, 2017