There was a slight change to the New Orleans Saints’ pecking order for their quarterbacks Saturday.
Over the first eight days of camp, Spencer Rattler took second-team reps on days that he didn’t run with the starters. But when the group reconvened in the morning, and with Tyler Shough getting starting reps, it was Jake Haener — not Rattler — running with the second team.
“Just balancing out the rotations,” coach Kellen Moore said when asked why he wanted to switch the order. “Really, just looking at the numbers on an off day and making sure we keep rotating these guys and going through that.”
Rattler, because his reps had come with the first and second teams, was significantly ahead of the other two quarterbacks on pass attempts. Saturday’s session was an opportunity to narrow the gap.
Here’s a further look:
Shough: 8-10 (33-54 overall)
Haener: 8-12 (41-59)
Rattler: 6-7 (50-71)
After an electric practice Thursday, all three quarterbacks — and the offense as a whole — were more sluggish following an off day. The Saints focused on situational work, with one drill emphasizing starting inside the team’s own 5-yard line and another that required the offense to seal the game on a four-minute drill. As a result, the quarterbacks resorted mostly to short throws, which partly explains why the completion percentages were so high.
But each quarterback had moments. Despite his injury history, Shough hasn’t been hesitant at taking off to run — and he had an impressive gain when he stepped up in the pocket following a play-action fake and sprinted past the defense.
Haener, on the other hand, seems to recognize the defense in front of him. On a pass to Jack Stoll, Haener read the oncoming fire-zone blitz before getting the ball out quickly to needle the throw between two defenders in a tight window.
Rattler, meanwhile, wasn’t nearly as aggressive as he had been in past practices, but he was sharp. His lone incompletion in team drills was the result of a Kendre Miller drop.
Still, none of the quarterbacks seemed to have the kind of performance that will go toward shaping this coaching staff’s decision on the starting job. Yes, coaches need to see how each signal-caller performs in situational work, but this practice may be a small data point for the final call.
If anything, Saturday’s session felt more consequential toward the Saints’ punting battle. After adding Kai Kroeger on Thursday to make it a rare three-man race, New Orleans had James Burnip and Kroeger take several punts throughout the morning — even outside dedicated punting periods.
For the Saints’ drill inside the 5, for instance, the coaching staff would bring on the punters if the offense failed to gain a first down. In that setting, both men got opportunities: Burnip trotted on the field after a three-and-out from Shough and Co. while Kroeger punted after a stalled Haener series.
Matthew Hayball was the lone punter who got a day off, but Moore said the incumbent would punt on Sunday. Then, after another off day Monday, Moore indicated all three could rotate in practice after that.
The Saints’ quarterback battle has been well underway. The punting battle, it appears, is just beginning.
“We feel like we’ve got three talented punters that can all compete and so it’ll be a fun opportunity for all those guys to go for it,” Moore said. “We’ll get the reps that we need.”
