The New Orleans Saints will be turning back to Spencer Rattler as the starter for their preseason finale against the Denver Broncos. But is that a sign that the team has finally decided on a starting QB?
"No," Kellen Moore said. Simple enough, right?
Rattler started the first game of the preseason, while rookie Tyler Shough started Game 2. Both quarterbacks are expected to play in this game and the plan is to have healthy starters take part as well. It's unclear whether both QBs will get reps with the 1s on offense.
“We’ll see just as far as the depths of those groups and how long they can go,” Moore said.
That group likely won't include RT Taliese Fuaga, who is dealing with what Moore described as a minor knee issue suffered during Wednesday's practice. He did not participate on Thursday. Two players yet to see the field on offense are center Erik McCoy and RB Alvin Kamara, though it's unclear if that will change this week.
The decision to send Rattler out fast tracks with the rotation of QB reps, though the first-team opportunities have continued to stilt more heavily his way. He started with the first team in both Tuesday and Wednesday's practices. Still, he's doing his best to focus on the task at hand and let the chips fall where they may.
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“You can’t worry about it, because then that’ll get in the way of how you prepare, how you play," he said. "You’ve just got to play your game, and like I said, try to get your guys’ trust, your teammates’ trust and be a leader out there and make good things happen.”
Whether the competition is still as close as the coach would lead you to believe, Rattler would certainly stand to benefit from a strong showing against Sean Payton's Broncos, a scheme he saw last year. A clear theme of the preseason games to this point has been the starter failing to move the ball on offense, with the backup coming in to find immediate success.
“It’s hard to come back, so you’ve got to start fast, stay fast and that’s something ... we practice every single day," he said. "We want to start fast. We didn’t start fast today at practice but we bounced back really strong and finished the practice strong, but we’ve got to stat fast no matter who is in there.”
The Saints and Broncos face off at noon Saturday inside the Caesars Superdome.