After their loss on Sunday to the Philadelphia Eagles, the New Orlean Saints (10-3) lost their first place spot in the NFC, falling one spot behind the Green Bay Packers (10-3) who own the tiebreaker based on their head to head win earlier in the season.

Things don't get easier this week for the Saints, who face off against the NFL's best team in the Kansas City Chiefs (12-1) this Sunday in New Orleans.

Who will be available? Will Drew Brees return from injury and start at quarterback?

Brees broke 11 ribs and suffered a punctured lung in a win against San Francisco last month and placed on Injured Reserve (IR).

Players on IR do not appear on the practice/injury report.

However, Nick Underhill of NewOrleans.Football reports Brees has been designated to return to practice from IR. (On a sidenote, support Underhill at Neworleans.football as he does amazing work covering the Saints)

His reason for not being on the injury report today is because he was not officially designated to return until after practice today.

Underhill reported earlier Brees would test out his ribs during practice before the team made a determination on whether or not to take him off IR.

Per NFL rules, New Orleans has a maximum of 21 days to officially take him off IR. It would be tomorrow. It could be in three weeks. Or if could be anytime in between.

In addition to the Brees news, both teams have All-Pros on today's practice/injury report.

The Saints host the Chiefs Sunday afternoon at 3:25 in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.

Here's a rundown of the first injury report of the week. Several Pro Bowlers are on the list.

LP - limited participant          FP - full participant          DNP - did not participate/practice

NEW ORLEANS SAINTS

PositionNameInjuryWednesday
DTMalcom BrownShoulderDNP
GNick EastonConcussionDNP
WRMichael ThomasAnkleDNP
DTMalcolm RoachIllnessDNP
WRDeonte HarrisNeckDNP
WRTommylee LewisIllnessDNP
TRyan RamczykElbowLP
DEMarcus DavenportQuadLP
GAndrus PeatFootLP

KANSAS CITY CHIEFS

PositionNameInjuryWednesday
TMike RemmersBack/NeckDNP
TEric FisherBackDNP
LBDamien WilsonKneeDNP
WRTyreek HillHamstringFP
TENick KeizerAnkle/KneeFP
DETanoh KpassagnonHipFP
DTDerrick NnadiAnkleFP
DEAlex OkaforKneeFP
TMartinas RankinKneeFP
CAustin ReiterKneeFP
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