Did the New Orleans Saints tip their hand on this summer’s training camp battle? With Monday being the team’s first padded practice session, they eased players back to work on Tuesday with a more-casual walkthrough; the pads will go back on and intensity will ramp up with two more practices on Wednesday and Thursday.
And when the starting offense went through their motions, it wasn’t rookie second-round draft pick Tyler Shough under center. It wasn’t third-year pro Jake Haener, either. Second-year quarterback Spencer Rattler led the unit. Head coach Kellen Moore cautioned anyone from reading too deeply into that after practice, saying that this walkthrough setting wasn’t part of the ongoing rotation at quarterback. But everything means something. These walkthroughs are rehearsed the same way as a final practice session the day before a regular season game, with a scripted set of plays run at half-speed. If the team had to play a game today, that decision suggests Rattler would be the pick.
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We shouldn’t be surprised by this. Rattler started training camp in the driver’s seat for the job, given his game experience across six starts last season, and Shough (or Haener) must prove he’s a better option. That hasn’t happened yet. Each quarterback has made some good throws. They’ve also had some passes they’d like back.
For now, Rattler’s got the benefit of extra reps on his side, but he needs to keep that gap between him and the other quarterbacks on the roster. And the thing about saying Shough wouldn’t start if the Saints had a game today is that, well, they don’t have a game today. He’s got the next month to make his case and earn that opportunity. As Shough gets more time with his coaches and teammates and logs more passes against NFL defenders, he could close that gap in a hurry. It’s something everyone will be watching closely in the weeks ahead.
This article originally appeared on Saints Wire: Saints training camp: Spencer Rattler is QB1 at walkthrough practice