New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees found himself in a predicament last week.

It’s a problem almost every transplant has faced when trying to watch their beloved NFL team in a different state: How do you get the game on TV?

“I don’t have the NFL package at my house (in San Diego),” Brees said.

Why would he? He hasn’t needed it since the year 2000.

“They were playing the Chargers game (on network television) in Southern California,” he said. “I had to go to a friend’s pizza joint to watch the game.”

Brees, who had surgery on his right thumb Sept. 18, was stuck in California under doctor’s orders that he not get on a plane for at least a few days. As the Saints were preparing for their game against the Seahawks in Seattle on Sept. 22, Brees was doing his rehab in Los Angeles before driving down to San Diego to watch the game.

“I watched it with, basically, all the dads and their kids. All of our kids play sports together,” Brees said. “That’s who I watched the game with.”

What’s it like to watch a Saints game with Brees? Surprisingly, pretty boring. He conceded he was pretty quiet watching the game in public.

He was not so quiet watching the Saints beat the Cowboys in a 12-10 thriller at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on Sunday night.

Brees flew back to New Orleans this weekend to rejoin the team, and to anyone watching him before the game, it was hard to tell that he wouldn’t be playing. The only indication he was injured was a black bandage that immobilized his thumb.

His meticulous routines are legendary. Years ago, Sean Payton wandered onto the practice field during the bye week to find him running through a simulated game by himself.

Brees and his routines just go together. These past few weeks? Not so much.

“It was weird,” Brees said bluntly.

Brees prepared for Sunday’s game the same way he always does: with an extended warmup session by himself at midfield. He went through the motions for more than 20 minutes, focusing particularly on hand exercises.

But that was where his routine ended. Once the team went into the locker room and came back out in their uniforms before kickoff, things changed. Brees returned in a white, long-sleeved Saints T-shirt and black pants, and from that point on, he could’ve been like any onlooker on the sideline.

He stood to the back of the huddle as linebacker Demario Davis stood in the middle, hyping up the team for the second week in a row.

“I didn’t know I was going to be going again. I wasn’t sure,” Davis said. “Drew was back … and it was still kind of his stage, but he talked to me and said he wanted me to go one more week. I was like, ‘OK, I better come up with something.’ … It’s exciting because me and Drew even talked about doing a collaboration (in the future).”

As the game went on, Brees stood on the sideline, usually next to one of the coaches, and read the play-call wristbands. It was a far different scene than the game he missed with an injury against the Panthers in 2015. On that day, Brees stood intently near the front of the sideline and mimicked everything on the field, right down to clapping to himself as the huddle broke.

There was none of that on Sunday, but there sure was emotion. He shook his head at certain calls, put his hands on his head when things weren’t going well and covered his face at times. And when rookie C.J. Gardner-Johnson blitzed and pressured Dak Prescott into an interception as time expired, Brees ran down the field to pat him on the back.

This Taysom Hill run comes Drew Brees approved 🔥🔥 @T_Hill4 pic.twitter.com/Pp5xPSxvqv

— The Checkdown (@thecheckdown) September 30, 2019

Turns out maybe Brees is more like a fan than anyone thought.

“Just trying to play the game in my mind. That’s how I watch football and especially how I watch my team play if I’m not in it,” he said, laughing. “This is uncharted territory for me. Didn’t expect to be on the sideline because of an injury, but obviously trying to make the most of it and be as supportive as I can for my team. I love watching them grow. They’re getting better and better, and it’s great to be a part of it.”

(Photo: Derick E. Hingle / USA Today)