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PAYTON BACK AT RIGHT TIME: Going into a game with a rookie fourth-round pick under center after your first three quarterbacks got knocked out of action is never a good thing.

Going into a game with those circumstances while also being without your head coach would be insanely difficult. So, with Sean Payton coming back, at least the degree of difficulty for Ian Book will be turned down at least a little bit with the primary signal-caller back on the sidelines.

Payton was involved in planning for this game throughout the week. He stayed in touch with the coaching staff through video and phone calls, and it doesn’t sound like he missed a whole lot on the field this week. On Wednesday, the team was at the facility, but Thursday’s practice was called off while the team sorted through its COVID-19 outbreak.

New Orleans will need everyone who can be there on the field this week. So, this is a good thing. Making use of the available ingredients is a lot easier when the chef is around.

GET CREATIVE: The Saints need to find a way to manufacture yards this week and move the ball without any of their top three quarterbacks available to play.

How is that going to look? Getting an early lead and sitting on it would help a lot. If the Saints get into a game where they can run the ball 30 or more times, that would be extremely beneficial since it would limit Book’s exposure and keep him from having to try to throw the team to victory.

New Orleans also needs to take advantage of its available opportunity here. No one knows what the offense will look like with Book, and it could be a chance to unveil some things no one has ever seen before – or hasn’t seen much of before – from this offense. Some snaps with Alvin Kamara under center? Unleashing some heavy motion and misdirection? Everything should be on the table this week.

SURVIVING THE TIMES: The list of players who currently have COVID-19 is likely to change over the next couple of days as the team continues to figure who will and won’t be available for Monday’s game against the Miami Dolphins, but it will certainly require a lot of adjusting.

Already, the team is without the following players:

-G James Carpenter

-LB Demario Davis

-LB Kaden Elliss

-S Jeff Heath

-QB Taysom Hill

-DE Jalyn Holmes

-S Malcolm Jenkins

-TE Juwan Johnson

-OL Jordan Mills

-OL Ryan Ramczyk

-DL Christian Ringo

-QB Trevor Siemian

-TE Adam Trautman

-WR Dwayne Washington

There will be many difficulties, but the Saints should be able to overcome some of the areas where they’ve gotten heavily hit.

The biggest hit is going to be Davis. He's arguably the team's best player, and losing him is going to be a huge hit. New Orleans will have to try to turn to rookie linebacker Pete Werner to take on a bigger role in this game. Werner has looked good all season, but in a limited role.

The secondary should be deep enough to overcome the loss of Jenkins. Someone will have to cover tight end Mike Gesicki, which could cause some issues without Jenkins, but this team should have the players to overcome. P.J. Williams and C.J. Gardner-Johnson are both well equipped to handle that role.

Having Nick Vannett healthy should help ease some of the issues at tight end. Ethan Wolf will also likely come up from the practice squad.

Being down Mills during a week with issues at offensive tackle will prove difficult, and, obviously, losing both quarterbacks is brutal. Maybe Caleb Benenoch would play tackle if Terron Armstead is out alongside Ramczyk. Seeing how the team moves forward at that position will be interesting. There aren't clear answers

Some of the most significant issues could come on special teams. Being without players like Gray, Washington and Heath will be something the team must overcome against an opponent that places a heavy emphasis on special teams.

DEMARIO DAVIS SNUB: I’m not sure you can be totally outraged by Micah Parsons and Bobby Wagner making the Pro Bowl roster. Both are good players and deserving of spots. But it is a little bit ridiculous that there isn’t a way for Demario Davis to get on the team.

The fact that there are only two spots for inside linebackers seems ridiculous when the Pro Bowl keeps things open for what is essentially six edge rushers. Still, furthermore, the fact that one of the best players in the league at his position can’t find a way onto the team is just stupid.

The easy thing here is to say that the Pro Bowl doesn’t matter, blah blah blah. But it does. These accolades matter during Hall of Fame conversations and in terms of general legacy. Davis is one of the best linebackers of his era and he’s never made a Pro Bowl. There is something seriously wrong with this conversation.

The system is broken. The system is stupid. The system needs to be fixed.

BORTLES: After Hill or Siemian hit the COVID-19 list, one of the first thoughts was that the team should go after someone like Ryan Griffin, who already knows the system and terminology needed to step in during an emergency.

Griffin is currently on the Buccaneers practice squad, and New Orleans could have easily brought him over to help fill the void. The only issue is that signing someone off of another practice squad means that he counts on your 53-man roster for the next three weeks.

Given that this is a temporary situation, the Saints likely wanted to stick with someone who they wouldn't get tied to for an extended period. So, the team turned to Blake Bortles.

Bortles spent some time with the Broncos and Rams last season and was with the Packers earlier this year. Expecting him to come in and pick things up in a hurry is probably unrealistic, and hopefully, the Saints don’t have to see him on the field this week.

PRO BOWL BONUSES: Gray is setting up to make a little extra money.

The special teams ace earned a $100,000 bonus for making the Pro Bowl. He was the only member of the group that also includes Cam Jordan, Marshon Lattimore and Alvin Kamara to have a Pro Bowl bonus written into his contract.

Lattimore could still pick up a little money down the road. The cornerback has a clause that will pay him $500,000 if he makes the first- or second-team All-Pro roster.

COVERAGES: Always like to keep track of which coverages the team is using most often. It is no surprise that some common concepts are at the top of the list (check the glossary article on coverages to see how these work if you need a refresher).

The Saints this year are primarily using Cover 1 (168 coverage snaps), Cover 4 (101), Cover 3 (98) and Cover 2 (81). The team has been at its best in terms of passer rating against playing Cover 1 (78.3) but are under a 92 rating in all of its primary coverages.

The team used the same coverages as its primary looks last year.

There is always some discrepancy in how these coverages get charted. ESPN often says the team is playing a heavy dose of 2 Man, which could be true, but what someone sees as 2 Man someone else might see as Cover 4 match. The Saints, for what it’s worth, say they play Cover 4 as a primary coverage. Some looks can be hard to decipher and lead to differences in opinion. But in general, on those snaps, the team would play a two-safety shell with man coverage underneath. You’re splitting hairs at a certain point.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS: Thank you all for supporting us. I truly mean it when I say that at some point during each day since we started this site I've stopped to think about how lucky we are to have so many of you supporting us. None of this works without you. Thank you. I'll never be able to say it enough.

We're going to be off here (barring something crazy happening) until Monday. No Members Only podcast today. We're going to let Kevin have Christmas Eve off. Enjoy your weekend.