Zach Strief Apologized To Drew Brees For Letting Up The Sack That Got Him Hurt

Yahoo-  A sack by Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive end Jacquies Smith in last week's game was the reason Brees' shoulder was not well enough for him to throw on Wednesday. And it was Strief's job to block Smith on the play that led to Brees' injury. He said he apologized to Brees for allowing that sack.

"It's your biggest fear as a lineman, especially with a guy like that, is letting him down," Strief said Wednesday, according to the New Orleans Times-Picayune. "I wouldn't be telling anybody anything new or secretive if I told you it was me. I said sorry, and of course he handled it the way you'd expect."



It would be so easy to criticize Zach Strief for giving up the sack that led to Drew Brees injury. Almost too easy to blame a guy for making one mistake while playing for a team, and more so an offense, that made about 1,000 of them on that very same afternoon. Well, you know what? I'm not going to do that. Not only because I respect what Zach Strief has done for this organization over the years, but because this team has sucked so goddamn bad that they were bound to get their quarterback sent to the sidelines. If I was going to blame Zach Strief then I would have to blame every other member of the offensive line for their half assed performance as well. I would have to blame the running backs for failing to average more than one yard per carry in the first half, and thus making Drew Brees drop back to pass in a longer down and distance against a great pass rush. I would have to blame the tight ends and the wide receivers for failing to get any separation and forcing Drew to hold on to the ball too long in an effort to find someone downfield. Hell, I would have to blame Drew Brees for holding on to the ball too long in an effort to find someone downfield. I would have to blame Sean Payton for not calling plays to move his quarterback out of the pocket when the Buccaneers defensive line was clearly dominating. I would have to blame everyone, because there hasn't a single, completely innocent party over the course of the first two games.

Bottomline? Drew's injury is symbolic of the failures of his entire offense. It's not one guy, it's not guys, it's EVERYONE. When you don't perform as a whole it puts more pressure on your quarterback to make plays, and the offense has simply not performed to this point in the season. Let's hope Drew is back sooner rather than later. Not only for the sake of Zach Strief's conscience, but for the sake of an offense that is in dire need of finding some chemistry before it's too late.