HONOLULU - Drew Brees lived every player’s Pro Bowl nightmare Saturday, dislocating his left elbow on his second series as the NFC’s starting quarterback.

Saints spokesman Greg Bensel said Brees would need six to eight weeks to recover, the New Orleans Times-Picayune reported. X-rays were negative for fractures or ligament damage.

The All-Pro quarterback’s injury seems unlikely to affect next season, but the threat of injury exists in any football game — even a low-key, halfhearted affair such as the NFL’s all-star game.

“You can’t go into any football game worrying about an injury, because that’s when you get hurt,” San Diego tight end Antonio Gates said earlier in the week. “You’ve just got to go out there and play your game and hope for the best.”

Despite the ever-present threat, serious injuries are rare in the Pro Bowl — and even moderate injuries usually have at least three months to heal before most clubs open minicamps.

The most famous Pro Bowl injury didn’t even occur during the game. New England running back Robert Edwards’ career was ruined when he seriously injured his knee during a rookie flag-football game on the beach after his standout 1998 rookie season. Though Edwards attempted a comeback four years later, he ended up with the CFL’s Montreal Alouettes.

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Defensive players typically don’t deliver their hardest hits in Hawaii, and Brees didn’t appear to get hit particularly hard while throwing a fourth-down incompletion on the NFC’s second offensive series.

Cincinnati receiver Chad Johnson then left the field hobbling after a collision with Atlanta’s DeAngelo Hall late in the second quarter, but shook it off and played in the second half.

Indianapolis receiver Marvin Harrison used the only surefire technique for avoiding injuries in this exhibition: The new champion didn’t play in the first half, watching from the sideline and wearing a Pro Bowl cap instead of a helmet.

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