Spencer Rattler was the QB on the field when the New Orleans Saints put their finishing touches on a 16-14 win over the Cardinals in their preseason opener, but there's a lot more to the story.
It was a game started by a scuffling first team offense, but then Jake Haener took over and led a pair of scoring drives -- the second of which featured a 58-yard bomb to A.T. Perry. The two performances will both be reviewed and weigh heavily into the competition to win the backup job for the 2024 season.
"That’s still wide open," the Cajun Cannon Bobby Hebert said. "To me nothing has been settled between Spencer Rattler and Jake Haener as far as who is going to back up Derek Carr."
Listen to Bobby Hebert's full post-game rant in the player above. Can't see the embed? Click here.
Rattler played the entire second half and led the Saints' only touchdown drive of the day, kicking things off with a deep shot to A.T. Perry that resulted in a 34-yard pass interference. He followed that up after a few shaky moments in the red zone with a 3-yard scramble to the corner of the end zone that was ruled a touchdown on review.
"Rattler made plays with his feet, he led the team, he drove them down … but you can see him getting better, OTAs, you can see in minicamp and even in training camp," Hebert continued.
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Rattler finished his day 9-17 for 70 yards passing, but that included a well-executed 2-minute drive that set up a game-winning 37-yard field goal from UDFA Charlie Smyth. Haener finished his day 9-13 for 107 yards.
The Saints will continue to gather information this week in joint practices with the 49ers before the two teams match up in San Francisco on Sunday.
"Before you know it the regular season is going to be here and you don’t want any quarterbacks to get hurt. I mean, what 60-something quarterbacks took a snap last year that wasn’t the starting quarterback," Hebert said. "So the backup guy, one snap and you might be in there. Remember the Jets had all their eggs in one basket and look what happened with Aaron Rodgers, what, it was the fourth play? So no, that’s important, whether it’s Jake Haener, Spencer Rattler.