‘I’m just excited to get to work on Arizona and see what we’re going to do’
Tyler Shough doesn’t lack for confidence. The rookie New Orleans Saints quarterback says he’s proud of what he’s accomplished this summer picking up Kellen Moore’s offense, and if it were up to him, he’d be the starter come Week 1’s kickoff game with the Arizona Cardinals.
It’s what you want him to say. Ultimately it isn’t up to Shough, and he acknowledged that, but he also said he’s seen the growth on his tape from practice reps to preseason games. He feels that he’s closed the cap with Spencer Rattler. He hopes his coaches see it, too.
“I think for me, you know, what I put on tape continually throughout the call periods, throughout the games, just kind of have the steady growth, the operation,” Shough began, making his case while speaking with reporters after Saturday’s preseason game with the Denver Broncos. “I feel like it has been enough. I feel like (I’m) fully capable to go out there and lead the charge. Obviously I don’t make those decisions. I think the whole team, the whole offense has continually gotten better. But for me, I feel really comfortable going in to week to week and I’m just excited to get to work on Arizona and see what we’re going to do.”
All told, Shough finished the preseason by completing 36 of 53 passes (67.9%) for 333 yards, throwing as many touchdowns as interceptions (one each). He also ran for a touchdown and lost a fumble. Rattler, his chief competitor, went 30-of-43 (69.8) for 295 yards with the same number of touchdown passes, interceptions, and fumbles. Shough was sacked five times and rushed for 20 yards. Rattler took five sacks but gained 41 yards as a rusher.
While he gave credit to the coaching staff for maintaining a fair competition with practice reps split between the first, second, and third strings, Shough admitted he’d want every snap with the starters if he could have them: “For me, it’s human nature to want to do that. And like I said before, the biggest thing I’ve kind of learned is just operating-wise and controlling your reps. I think I’ve done a really good job at, you know, finishing the past couple weeks of doing that and just having fun with it.”
So what do the Saints get if they name Shough their Week 1 starter? What does he feel he’s shown on tape over the last month to warrant that decision?
“I think for me it’s been a steady increase of performance and I think what I add to the table as far as just from down-the-field elements, you know, running the ball, controlling the offense, managing it, giving our guys chances to play. I think I’ve done a really good job of that,” Rattler said. He made sure to compliment his teammates-turned-rivals for the job, too. He added, “I also think Spencer is capable as well. I think Jake (Haener) is really capable as well. I think it’s obviously a really though decision and we got a lot of talent on offense, but I know for us and for myself I’m going to continue to keep getting better because regardless of what the scenario is, I feel like I’m ready to go and am the guy to go out there and play. And we’ll see what happens.”