The Les Bleus coach told a press conference that he did not risk deploying Mbappé in the end to give him more time to recover, given the way the game unfolded.
Mbappé, who signed with Real Madrid shortly before the championship, suffered the injury in the opening game after colliding with the shoulder of Austrian defender Kevin Dans. He is expected to finish the tournament in Germany wearing a special protective mask.
"Kylian's condition is improving every day. If we were playing a decisive game I would probably think differently, but today it was wiser to leave him on the bench," Deschamps said. "We certainly didn't bluff in any way. It would have been a risk, this way we got extra time," added the 2018 world champions' coach.
The French are close to the knockout stages with four points and will need their star man further down the line. The game against the Netherlands was the sixth in a row without Mbappé in the starting line-up that they did not win.
Moreover, none of the Les Bleus players have been among the scorers at the Euro so far. Austria were beaten 1-0 thanks to an own goal by Maximilian Wöber. They will finish the group on Tuesday against already eliminated Poland.
