It was a trial by fire for Trevor Penning on Sunday, his second career start at left tackle and first protecting Derek Carr's blind side as the Saints' new QB.
He got burnt, particularly in a first half that saw a New Orleans offense struggle to mount any sustained offense against a talented Titans defensive front. Arden Key won multiple times for sacks, at one point Denico Autry won clean inside for a run stuff. There was clear cause for potential concern, but not among the coaching staff.
"This guy's going to be a good player," head coach Dennis Allen said after the 16-15 win. "You got a young guy that's playing against an extremely good front. So does he have to get better? Absolutely. Am I concerned? No."
It was a loud vote of confidence and one that will certainly be heard by a young player who appeared to settle in as the game wore on and the coaching staff appeared to scheme more help to his side. Carr was sacked four times in the first half, but managed to evade the pressure the rest of the way.
The quarterback showed some frustration during the game, at one point slamming the ball to the ground after the sack. But he was quick to put the onus on himself afterward, particularly for a frustration throw late in the second quarter that was intercepted and ended a potential chance for a long field goal. He joined his head coach in gassing up his young left tackle for how he responded to the adversity.
"I was so proud of his demeanor and the way he carried himself, because, no one wants to make a mistake," Carr said. "All of us, all 53, nobody wants to go out there and be the one that, ‘ah, man, that was one me,’ like I did before the half. It crushes you. It hurts, because you want so much for your team. But the way he picked himself up, like, we have a room full of grown men, that yea, I made a mistake. Let’s keep going, let’s keep playing. And I felt that from him.”
The Saints appear committed to the 2022 first-round pick sticking at his natural position, but it's fair to wonder how far any struggles will be allowed to run before changes are made. The Saints do have options, with James Hurst more than capable of kicking out to LT if needed, a position where he started for the majority of the 2022 season. Andrus Peat is also a starting caliber guard and could take over Hurst's vacated guard position in that scenario.
For now, it sounds like that road isn't one that will be traveled as the Saints look to build the confidence of a young player who missed the majority of his rookie season with multiple foot injuries.
"I think we just keep our head down and keep going to work and we'll keep getting better and we'll make our evaluations when we get to the end the season and see where we're at," Allen said, "but I think this kids going to be just fine."
Penning will have an extra day to correct any mistakes that cropped up in this game before an outing against another stout defensive front and the Carolina Panthers on Monday Night Football.
