The New Orleans Saints still have a long way to go to correct the issues that drove a 2-8 start to the 2025 season, but there is some reason for optimism.
That came with a 17-7 win over the Panthers heading into a Week 11 bye, a game that featured a breakout performance from QB Tyler Shough in his second career start. The rookie's showing out at Bank of America Stadium drew positive reviews from Drew Brees, speaking on WWL Radio this week.
"It was an impressive performance," Brees told Mike Detillier, "and he’s one of those guys who’s only going to get better each time he goes on the field. … I think that was really the scouting report on him coming out was obviously he’s a big, strong athlete, he can make every throw, he can make plays outside the pocket, he’s tough to bring down, but also, I think, his command of the offense, his poise, and I think you saw that on Sunday.”
Hear the full interview with Drew Brees in the player above. Can't see the embed? Click here.
Shough's final line was 19-27 for 282 yards and a pair of touchdowns. The Saints were also able to churn the final 7:33 of the game without giving the ball back, with the Saints running the clock out inside the Panthers 10-yard line. A lot of the poise Brees referenced was shown in critical moments, with Shough converting for first downs or touchdowns in four of the five instances of 3rd and 6 or longer the Saints faced in the game.
Each of Juwan Johnson's 52-yard catch, 30-yard touchdown and Chris Olave's 62-yard touchdown came in third and long situations. He evaded significant pressure in two of those situations, another area Shough drew praise for his efforts.
"That’s something that, especially with young quarterbacks, typically it takes time to develop that comfort level in the pocket, to stand in there and then also to know to abort and get outside of the pocket and make plays," Brees continued. "A lot of times you have guys kind of abort too soon because they’re used to making those types of plays in college, but look, I think kind of his size and stature promotes itself to, man, just be able to stand in there, really see it, stand strong and deliver the ball down the field, but also he’s a good enough athlete that man, when things break down he can get outside and make plays.”
The next step for the rookie QB will be building on his performance, but that opportunity won't come until Week 12 when the Saints host the Falcons inside the Caesars Superdome, a team currently riding a four-game losing streak after a 3-2 start. Catch all the action on WWL and Audacy.
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MORE FROM BREES
On Chris Olave's big performance after Shaheed trade
“Psychologically, you know, I think any time you trade … a player who, I think going into the year, you know, especially with those two speedsters in Olave and Shaheed, you’re sitting there going, OK, these guys blow the top off. We’ve got other guys that can kind of dominate the intermediate game and then all of a sudden you make a business decision to trade a guy like that. It does one of two things, either it, you know, the guys take that as hey, we’re not as good as we were because we lost this guy, or hey, it’s time for everybody else to step up, it just means more opportunities for the rest of us and let’s go show them what we’re made of, and I think that’s what we saw.
"You saw some young guys really stepping up. Obviously new quarterback so you’re trying to re-establish the identity on offense, but then a guy like Olave who I think we all have high expectations for. We drafted him in the first round a few years ago to be the guy, right, so any time you come off a game like that where you make some big plays, that was really encouraging.”
On defense supporting the quarterback
“It was great to see that, you know. It’s what every defense says, hey, stop the run, but it’s much easier said than done, but look, I think that that’s, and we’ve got some guys on the defensive side of the ball that stepped up to that challenge and I know that was the priority coming into this game and so that was great to see, and look, if you can make the opposing offense one-dimensional, that’s really what you strive for.”
On going into bye week on a high note
“For sure, there’s always that balance. You don’t want to break up your rhythm, but at the same time the bye week was always an opportunity to recharge the batter, it’s the midway point of the season, so probably a good thing for a lot of the veteran guys especially, you know, a week to get the bodies right and then make another run at it.”