Brees speaks out on New Orleans shooting deaths of McKnight, Smith

Drew Brees and a number of his New Orleans Saints teammates spent their off day in court, attending the trial for the shooting death of former Saint Will Smith on Tuesday.

On Wednesday, he spoke out about the death of his former teammate and the recent shooting in New Orleans that killed former NFL running back Joe McKnight.

"It's a tragedy, an absolute tragedy," Brees said during a conference call with Tampa-area reporters, Greg Auman of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

"You hate to see that, and these are two high-profile cases, but this kind of stuff happens every day in a lot of places. It's not just New Orleans. The crime rate in New Orleans is down quite a bit over the last four years. Obviously when something like this happens ... it's really tragic."

McKnight was killed last week. Smith was killed in a New Orleans shooting in April. Brees said he and his wife attended the trial to lend support to Smith's widow, Racquel.

"There were a lot of guys who played with Will who had a chance to go there and be with his family, to just be with them and try to give them some strength during that time," Brees said. "We're constantly checking in with what's happening and trying to support her family as much as we can during this time."