At some point, Kellen Moore says he plans to rotate the backup reps between Spencer Rattler and Zach Wilson.
The New Orleans Saints signed Wilson with the intention of creating a competition for the spot behind starter Tyler Shough. The move was nothing against Rattler personally — the Saints kept the quarterback, despite plenty of trade speculation — but rather, New Orleans’ staff wanted to see what they had in the former 2021 second overall pick.
But through the first four practices of training camp, as well as OTAs and mandatory minicamp, the competition hasn’t materialized.
And that’s a credit to Rattler.
The third-year quarterback has seemingly given his coaches no reason to contemplate a switch over the past few months. The 25-year-old has been largely steady, even as the offense has yet to fully find a rhythm. Wilson, by contrast, looks very much like a player still learning a new system, which is understandable since this is his first year with the Saints.
“Eventually, we’ll probably do something,” Moore said. “We just like to rotate these guys and give different exposures. All three of those guys are playing good football.”
But if Rattler keeps performing as he has been, he likely won’t be in jeopardy of losing his backup job.
Here’s what else stood out on Day 4.
Attendance: The Saints saw a few faces return to practice. While Cesar Ruiz and Ja’Lynn Polk were still excused for personal reasons, tight end Cody Hardy was removed from the non-football-injury list. Defensive linemen Zxavian Harris (foot) and Keeshawn Silver (undisclosed) were in uniform, but still working with trainers off to the side.
Cornerback Kool-Aid McKinstry (ankle) returned to team drills after sitting out of them Friday as a precaution.
Sloppy starters
The Saints moved practice indoors Sunday due to inclement weather. Practicing inside did not help the first-team offense get into a groove.
Shough was again sporadic as he and the Saints try to adjust to the new pieces on offense. In 11-on-11 drills, Shough completed only three of his 13 passes — although there are some caveats.
Two of those seeming incompletions were up for debate as it was unclear whether Chris Olave was in bounds on a deep ball on Shough’s first throw, while another appeared to be incomplete on a bang-bang play that could have been interpreted as a catch-and-fumble by Travis Etienne. Another of Shough’s incompletions, too, would have been wiped away because of an offsides penalty from Chase Young.
Still, whether he was 3-of-13 or 5-for-12, Shough struggled in team drills against New Orleans’ starting defense. He threw his second interception of camp when he held the ball for too long and tried to force a throw near the end zone that safety Julian Blackmon intercepted. He also saw Jonas Sanker make an impressive pass breakup when the second-year safety broke up a pass to Jordyn Tyson on the way to the ground.
Shough hasn’t received a lot of help from his playmakers, either. Drops were again an issue Sunday as Alvin Kamara couldn’t hold onto a good look that was generated off of play action. And there was one — or two — fumbles from the supporting cast, as well.
On the first, Juwan Johnson fumbled the ball out of bounds after a completion. The second turned out to be more controversial. Late in practice, linebacker Pete Werner punched the ball out of Etienne’s hands as soon as Shough’s pass arrived — causing the official to rule it a catch-and-fumble. This, however, was highly debatable as it appeared Etienne had not established full control and for these purposes, we’re counting it as an incompletion.
If there was a bright spot for Shough, it came during 7-on-7 drills. He went 4-for-4 in his reps, notably hitting Etienne on a nice wheel route and finding Devaughn Vele in traffic for a touchdown from the 5-yard line.
“It’s training camp,” Moore said. “There are good days and days you want to improve. That’s part of this installation process.”
Play of the day
Bryce Lance continues to make plays. And during a 7-on-7 rep Sunday, the rookie wide receiver read the Saints’ zone defense perfectly as he found an opening in the back of the end zone so that Rattler could deliver the strike past a few nearby defenders.
Rattler’s pass itself was a dime. But the play also said something about the fourth-round wideout’s ability to read coverage.
“For him to be able to weave through all that coverage, it might not look like nothing is there at first, but for him to just feel that zone in the back of the end zone was big time,” Rattler said.
Odds and ends
- Defensive tackle Bryan Bresee will indeed undergo knee surgery after tearing his ACL last week, Moore said.
- The Saints squeezed in some extra reps near the end of practice as they conducted 11-on-11 drills with the first-team on one side of the field, while the second and third units worked on the opposite end.
- Sunday’s practice again featured a lot of work in the red zone, an area New Orleans struggled in last season.
- Moore estimated the team has installed only half of its playbook so far.
- Monday marks the first day of pads for the Saints. Get ready.
