{"id":304635,"date":"2025-08-21T01:12:16","date_gmt":"2025-08-21T01:12:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/304635\/"},"modified":"2025-08-21T01:12:16","modified_gmt":"2025-08-21T01:12:16","slug":"saints-giving-spencer-rattler-majority-of-first-team-reps-saints","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/304635\/","title":{"rendered":"Saints giving Spencer Rattler majority of first-team reps | Saints"},"content":{"rendered":"

When a quarterback competition<\/a> is as close as the New Orleans Saints\u2019 battle seems, it can be tempting to overanalyze everything.<\/p>\n

So when Spencer Rattler again began the day with first-team reps, the temptation kicked in. Was this the sign that the coaching staff is leaning toward Rattler winning the job? If not that, does that mean he\u2019ll at least start Saturday\u2019s preseason finale against the Denver Broncos?<\/p>\n

What does it mean, if anything?<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, we\u2019re just rotating,\u201d coach Kellen Moore deadpanned.<\/p>\n

Hey, it was worth the question.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, it was a good try,\u201d Moore said.<\/p>\n

Moore unsurprisingly wasn\u2019t about to tip his hand, and again he maintained the Saints haven\u2019t decided on their starting quarterback \u2014 even for Saturday\u2019s preseason game. But after Wednesday\u2019s practice at the Caesars Superdome, the first-year coach told reporters that Rattler and rookie Tyler Shough will play against the Broncos.<\/p>\n

In the meantime, the battle continued \u2014 with Rattler taking advantage of the first-team reps. He looked sharp as the afternoon practice went on, notably hitting Chris Olave for a 25-yard touchdown in a two-minute drill. Perhaps even more notable, Rattler received the majority of snaps with the starters.<\/p>\n

Shough rotated in with the first team but only for one series instead of the several that previously\u00a0had taken place.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe love to compete,\u201d Rattler said. \u201cIf you don\u2019t love to compete, then you shouldn\u2019t be the QB. So we all love to compete.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even though the Saints haven\u2019t named a starter, Moore has used this week to simulate preparation for the regular season. Moore said the Saints held practice at the Superdome, for instance, to get used to the turf and the stadium beyond what they\u2019ve already experienced in the preseason. And that\u2019s why Thursday\u2019s practice will be lighter, representing a typical Friday session before a Sunday game.<\/p>\n

Even the Saints\u2019 workload on Wednesday looked slightly different than usual. Moore incorporated more exotic plays and packages, the kinds that they\u2019d typically introduce to catch an opponent off guard in the regular season.<\/p>\n

In team drills, Moore had the first-team offense go against the second-team defense and the second-team offense go against the first-team defense. The early portions of camp, by contrast, primarily featured the 1’s vs. the 1\u2019s.<\/p>\n

Of the quarterbacks, Rattler displayed the most consistency. After a slow start that saw him go 0 for 4 in seven-on-seven drills, the second-year signal-caller found a groove \u2014 including completing his first 10 passes in 11-on-11 drills. In one situation, Rattler got the Saints into field goal range with a nice pair of completions. Later, to set up the 25-yard strike to Olave, Rattler methodically moved the Saints down the field on an eight-play series.<\/p>\n

Shough\u2019s performance resembled his outing from Sunday\u2019s tie against the Jacksonville Jaguars. He wasn\u2019t bad by any means, but he lacked the splashy plays that could have helped create separation in the team\u2019s competition. When working with the 2\u2019s, the unit allowed several penalties and pressures to disrupt his rhythm.<\/p>\n

Near the end of practice, he led a 10-play drive with just 1:12 on the clock to set up a 58-yard field goal from Charlie Smyth. Shough managed to get the Saints into scoring territory, despite a few errant throws and a pair of sacks.<\/p>\n

Here were the numbers from the afternoon (11-on-11 only):<\/p>\n

Rattler: 18-21 (141-206 overall)<\/p>\n

Shough: 5-11 (114-187)<\/p>\n

Jake Haener: 2-3 (80-118)<\/p>\n

Asked whether he viewed the quarterback competition as close as Moore does, Rattler said \u201cthat\u2019s not up to me.\u201d He also said that he feels good and wants to keep building on his progress.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just good competition with all of us,\u201d Rattler said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When a quarterback competition is as close as the New Orleans Saints\u2019 battle seems, it can be tempting…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":304636,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2076],"tags":[7,4095,896,55,2572,2571,6,397],"class_list":{"0":"post-304635","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-orleans-saints","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-hardwall","10":"tag-new-orleans","11":"tag-new-orleans-saints","12":"tag-neworleans","13":"tag-neworleanssaints","14":"tag-nfl","15":"tag-saints"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115064101121437155","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/304635","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=304635"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/304635\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/304636"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=304635"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=304635"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=304635"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}