The New Orleans Saints offered up a first live look at their quarterback battle in Sunday's 27-13 loss against the Los Angeles Chargers.
New Orleans rolled with Spencer Rattler as its starting QB amid a battle between Rattler, rookie Tyler Shough and Jake Haener.
Shough led all Saints quarterbacks with 29 offensive snaps with Rattler recording 28 and Haener seeing nine on Sunday. Shough produced the biggest highlight of the day -- a 54-yard touchdown pass -- on the Saints' only TD drive, and also led a field goal drive. Haener was at QB for the Saints' other field goal march.
Rattler couldn't find any rhythm going against a stingy second-unit defense. He played the entire first quarter and completed 7 of 11 passes for 53 yards. The 2024 fifth-round pick did extend drives using his legs when needed, but his offensive line struggled to protect him.
"I thought Spencer (Rattler) did some good stuff coming out of there, using his feet in some situations where he had some avoided zone areas," head coach Kellen Moore said after the game, via the team’s website. "He was able to make some plays out of. Probably for us just playing some situational football, we were close on getting in the range for some points and we just weren't able to get those things done."
After Rattler's day was done, Shough had his chance to see some action. The 2025 second-round pick delivered some high and low moments. On a third-and-6, Shough's pass intended for Dante Pettis was quickly intercepted by Eric Rogers for a 43-yard pick-six.
Following the next drive after Shough's mistake, the Louisville product got an opportunity and delivered. In shotgun formation with the Saints trailing, Shough threw a deep ball down the left sideline to Mason Tipton who ran a beautiful route for a 54-yard touchdown. It was the Saints' best play on offense Sunday afternoon.
"That's what is going to happen in this league as you go through these seasons and so I thought he did a great job," Moore said of the rookie QB's play and mentality. "We'll learn from the interception, we'll learn from that one, we'll grow, but his response was really valuable."
Shough went 15 of 22 for 165 yards, one touchdown and an interception in his preseason debut.
As for Haener, he didn't get much action, as he entered the game with five minutes left in the fourth quarter. In the team's last two drives, the 2023 fourth-round selection completed five of his eight throws for 41 yards and an INT.
The Saints certainly gave a glimpse of how the QB competition could shake out between their three quarterbacks for the next few weeks. New Orleans will host No. 2 overall pick Travis Hunter and the Jaguars at 1 p.m. ET next Sunday at the Caesars Superdome on NFL Network.
