Spencer Rattler | Saints-Cardinals Postgame | 2025 NFL Week 1

Spencer Rattler | Saints-Cardinals Postgame | 2025 NFL Week 1

How we doing? Spencer, can you just take take us through the two-minute drive and and the last play near last play? Yeah, I mean it was a really well executed drive that we, you know, took completions when they were there and moved the ball at an elite level on that last drive. You know, we’ve been in that situation, I feel like so much. Um, we’re very comfortable doing that tempo at the end. Um, game of inches, you know. Um, you know, think that guy made a good play on that ball to Jawan. Um, but you know, that’s I told Jan before that play, hey, I’m coming at you, so be ready. And, um, you know, I’ll throw that to him 100 times out of 100, you know. So, very close. Very close. Got to some way um finish that out. You put it uh extremely high and he got to and I didn’t You put it where you wanted to, right? Yeah. I mean, that’s the only spot it could be. um they’re playing very soft, you know, in that situation of the game and uh you know, we’ve repped that play many times. You know, that’s where that’s where we wanted it to be. How did you evaluate your performance today? You know, I thought I thought I thought it was fine. You know, I thought I think as a group, 13 penalties as a team, you know, you’re not going to win many games with that. Um got to finish in the red zone when we have opportunities. I think we got down there and kind of stalled out. Um got to figure out a way to be better there, but I thought our energy was great. Um, I thought we were very balanced in the first half with our running pass game. Um, moving the ball pretty well. Uh, it was it was a battle the whole game till the end. Defense played well. Uh, Brian had a great block kick. You know, we got down there. I think we got a field goal right there. Not seven points there, but literally came down to the last second. Um, and I’m tell telling the guys, hey, we’re we’re going to go down and win this game. And we all 100% thought that was going to happen. Spencer, did you have any anticipation you’d be finishing this game with 46 pass attempts when we kind of went through the game plan this week? You know, uh, we’re always ready for whatever happens. Um, still a couple missed opportunities out there, um, obviously, but, um, you know, thought we were efficient. Um, couple third downs we could have been better on, you know, being behind the sticks. I thought we found a way to convert in certain situations, um, on fourth down as well, uh, towards the end of the game. But I think just the flow of the game, we got to take advantage of momentum and finish in the red zone when we have the opportunity. I think of your two-minute drive in preseason against the Jags. When you maybe look at that, how much confidence did you have in successfully finishing that drive today? Yeah, it felt the same same exact situation. Um, you know, I thought their defense today didn’t pressure as much as we thought they would. It was a, you know, shellfest. They took away the back end, did a good job with that. Um, thought we ran the ball well, like I said, and then, um, you know, taking the underneath stuff, which was there. Um, but yeah, that two-minute drive, you know, we we’ve been in that situation before. We work it in practice so much, and all of us thought we were going to go down, tie that game up, or win it with a two-point conversion. Um, we’ll be in that situation again at some point this year, and it’ll be a better outcome. Those two drives at the end of the game were much more efficient. Was there something about the operation, something about everybody that it just got cleaner in the last two drives? Is there a reason for that? I think we’re a really good tempo team. Um I think we do a good job of distributing in when we’re playing fast. Obviously in that situation of the game, you’re going to get different looks. So I thought we did a good job of pushing the ball down the field when needed, but also taking what’s underneath when it’s there. Um you know, credit to them. They made some good plays. Um but we shot ourselves in the foot too much today. I think if we cut those penalties in half, we win this game. You did that obviously in the preseason as well. Is there anything you like about the way you’ve been playing in those situations? Just decisive. Um decisive. I thought, you know, you got to protect the ball in those situations, make good decisions. I feel like, you know, we didn’t have any turnovers today, which is um, you know, usually the outcome is better. Um, but, you know, I think we’re a good tempo team. I think we can take a step when we’re not going temp a better step when we’re not going tempo. You did have the uh the interception that got called back. Was that you saw one of those opportunities to get past the the shells? Yeah, you know, I saw Shahed one-on-one. Um, you know, the corner, uh, Johnson, he’s a good good ball player, good good ball skills, and, um, you know, he he got a little deeper than I thought and just a little miscommunication. Um, try to give a shot early and we got lucky on that one. Would you like to get a chance to run the two man at the end of the first half, but Kevin did call timeouts? Yeah, I mean, I think that’s a tough situation. Um, you know, we had timeouts, I think, right? Um, but we’re going to trust what what what Kell does. you know, um, we called a run and, you know, they’re going to play so soft in that situation. We probably have to get 30 yards to get in range or 25. Um, so it had to be there’s risk and reward to that. Um, we trust in what what Kell’s going to do and um, you know, we had the ball coming out, so we want to go out and score. Obviously didn’t. Got to be better there, but uh, trust in what coaches calling. What’s the process for you guys just this week of cleaning up the uh, the pre- snaps though? Yeah, I mean it’s all details in practice and walkthroughs. um whatever we’re doing, you know, um use a lot of different cadence today. We got to be settled in. We got to be better communication myself. Uh we got to be detailed as a group better on both sides of the ball. So, I think that’s detailed throughout the week. Um you know, locker room talk. Hey, we got to lock in on this situation. Let’s not, you know, flinch. Let’s not have a a motion. You know, refs were very tight-knit on that stuff today. And we knew that coming in. Um thought we could have got some more calls. I mean, I think that ball to Shahid in the end zone was pass interference. um you know had an opportunity for a touchdown there and obviously didn’t get the call but hey um next play mentality got to finish got to be better in the red zone as as a group is that frustrating when you know as Kell Moore mentioned he was saying that there wasn’t that uh issue during the preseason in terms of the pre-step penalties and and and was temple maybe a cause of that maybe there were times maybe you guys could have slowed down and and got set you know we we we want to be clean at all times of the game you know guys are going to be tired the defense is tired Uh we’re tired of going fast, but we got to be focused when we’re tired. And I think just repping that, repping that throughout the week, being detailed in the game, communicating at a high level, um we could be better there. Anything that sticks out on the uh first and goal from the three in particular, like any opportunity missed in that drive? Um yeah. Um just, you know, we we we just got to punch that in. You know, we had an opportunity. Um you think we get that in, but hey, on to the next. We we we’ll get it next time. Obviously, there’s going to be a lot of focus on the final catch or not catch, but what did you think of Jawan’s day in general? Seems like a guy you’re very confident. Just like last year, he’s a guy, you know, we want to go to. I mean, he’s a great player. Um made a lot of big time catches today on third down as well, and he’s just such a safe target to throw to. Um big frame and a competitor. So, in that situation, we want to go at him. He’s a mismatch on that field. He can get up higher than anybody. And uh he high pointed the ball really well on that play and I I got to see it on film. I don’t know what happened. I think maybe the safety somehow got it out, but um I’m throwing that ball to him 10 out of 10 times. When Chris got knocked by Will Johnson? Yeah. Does your mind go like concussion history at all? And were you How relieved for you that? No, I was very relieved. You know, he didn’t get injured from that. Um that was such a bang bang play. You know, we’re coached if hey, that nickel comes and that end squeezes, we’re throwing that out there. they had the perfect call for that play and um kind of caught us off guard with it and I’m just happy first it wasn’t a backward pass and second he’s he’s healthy after it because uh I went up to him I said hey man I’m not trying to get you blown up there um want to get you the ball in space but we got to all be on the same page to see how tough he because there was a few times he was going back to the tent trying to like but he was still toughing it out and playing help a little bit he’s a he’s a tough dude you know he’s reliable he’s tough um you know but obviously you want to keep him out of situations like that you know um So, we’ll we’ll try to do better in that part, but uh got to play ball at the same time. Outside of the you know, obviously discouraged by the loss, I’m sure, but like outside of the the end result, like how do you are you encouraged at all by stuff today? Like, how do you how do you process like the overall like direction of the team? Yeah. I mean, that was a four- quarter battle. I mean, um obviously we’re not happy with losing at all. Um so, we got we got to we got to be better first of all, like penalties, stuff like that. Um you know, situational football I thought we were good in. Um, but you know, it’s week one. Uh, like Kellen said after, we’re not going to go undefeated this season. Um, we got a lot to build on and we’re we’re looking on to next week. Got a lot of stuff to clean up from this week, but we could have won that game. Um, if you take clean some things up, what are the emotions like for you just starting today, coming out to Yeah, I mean, it was a um obviously great opportunity. um you know, you you uh it’s a blessing to be able to play here and um get a get a chance at starting and lead the guys. So, I do my best to put my best foot forward and and try to lead and help us win games. But, uh we’re going to keep building, keep working, love these guys, love playing with them. Being named the starter before the season, does it feel any different from playing last year? Um I would say so. Yeah, it feels like a clear vision. You go out there, you don’t have to worry about nothing. Play fast, uh play your game, and just lead. I mean, um, you know, I feel I feel like, you know, teams got trust in me, coaches got trust in me. I just got to keep, um, getting better, keep leading, and, uh, we’re we’re going to we’re going to get some wins. The negotiation in certain situations where when you’re maybe rolling to one side or the other and kind of have an option to get the ball downfield or or run, how do you negotiate that? Yeah, there was one today um to CO on the left side. I tried to throw it and it kind of faded on me. I probably could have just run there. Um I think towards the end of the game was more decisive with running with how soft they were. Um but yeah, I mean you got to pick your right spots for it. Um obviously I’ll look at tape and and see what we can do in that area. Was the um tempo y’all used today game plan specific or is that something going to be part of your arsenal year you think? Yeah, I mean that’s something you want to use all year to your advantage. Um you know obviously some stuff on tape we saw game plan wise we wanted to use that. Um and it worked out well. Um but like I said, when we’re not doing tempo, we got to be cleaner, have better communication to execute those plays. What you think about um also Richards coming in, you know, kind of hold it down for a couple of drives at the end. Yeah, you know, you hate to see Tally, your uh you know, your best guy up front, one of your best guys up front go down towards the end, but thought he stepped up, did a I thought the O line did a great job all day. You know, we only took one sack and that was my fault. Should have got to the back on third and you know, eight. Um, but one sack, you know, versus a team that that causes a lot of havoc. I mean, that’s a that’s a good stat. Um, obviously it can be better, but O line did a great job. Thank you. appreciate you.

New Orleans Saints quarterback Spencer Rattler’s postgame interview after the Saints’ game vs. the Arizona Cardinals in Week 1 of the 2025 NFL season. Saints vs. Cardinals Game Recap: https://www.neworleanssaints.com/game-day/2025/reg-week1/cardinals-at-saints/recap
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