It's nothing personal, but Ronde Barber wouldn't mind if he never sees Drew Brees again after today. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers cornerback and New Orleans Saints quarterback are usually division foes in the NFC South, but for this week they're Pro Bowl teammates.

Brees, an eight-year veteran making his third all-star appearance, led the league this season with 5,069 passing yards. The mark is second only to Dan Marino's NFL record of 5,084 yards in 1984. Brees completed 65 percent of his passes and threw 34 touchdown passes to 17 interceptions.

"He's probably the smartest guy we play against all year," Barber said. "It's like he knows everything you're doing — it's kind of frustrating actually, but I definitely respect what he's been able to accomplish since his years in San Diego."

Brees completed his third season in New Orleans, his best in terms of passing yards and touchdowns in his career. He spent his first five years in the league with the Chargers — four as the starter — before taking over as the trigger man for the Saints' offense.

He threw for 4,418 yards and 26 touchdowns, leading New Orleans into the NFC Championship game in 2006, on his way to his second Pro Bowl appearance.

Brees, who started in that Pro Bowl, dislocated his left (non-throwing) elbow during the first quarter. He did not return and the injury put a damper on an otherwise easy-going, but entertaining game. But Brees didn't let his past misfortune prevent him from coming to what could be the final Pro Bowl in Hawai'i.

"I wouldn't be here if it did," Brees said. "That's part of the game. It didn't scare me off, but hopefully it doesn't happen again — knock on wood."

He did admit the injury in 2006 put a halt to offseason plans.

"That stunk just because it took away a lot of golf for me. My wife and I were going to go on vacation, but I had to go through rehab instead and obviously you'd rather be on vacation," Brees said.

Brees didn't miss any games because of the injury and certainly didn't lose any ability.

He was named Offensive Player of the Year by The Associated Press this season despite being on an 8-8 team. Still his team led the league in passing yards (311), points (28.9) and total offense (410) per game. However, New Orleans ranked 28th in rushing, averaging just under 100 (99.6).

"It was disappointing, but I think that we've got a lot of the right pieces in place, we just gotta make sure we're able to finish football games," Brees said. "A lot of our losses came in the last few minutes of the game, when we had chances to win and we just weren't able to pull it out."

Still, his NFC teammates this week certainly have taken notice of Brees' prowess.

"He's amazing," Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson said. "You know, we're just taking it easy during practice this week, but Drew is still threading passes between defenders, hitting guys on deep routes. He's just really talented and extremely focused on the field."

Barber agreed: "I think he has an incredible will, one that he needed to overcome that injury. Drew Brees is a special guy and to me there's very few guys better than him playing the position."