After getting off to one of the hottest starts in the NFL, winning their first two games by a combined 62 points, the New Orleans Saints have come back to earth, losing their past three games. Things hit rock bottom during Monday’s 26-13 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, with Derek Carr suffering an oblique injury.
Carr’s injury will keep him sidelined for Sunday’s matchup against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and possibly for their short turnaround the following Thursday too. With that, the Saints will have to call upon the next man up, but it won’t be Jake Haener, who replaced Carr last Sunday.
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New Orleans Saints call on Spencer Rattler to make first career start
Jake Haener may have been the first quarterback off the bench when Derek Carr got hurt, but he won’t be replacing him in the starting lineup.
According to Ian Rapoport and Mike Garafolo, the Saints will be instead be starting rookie Spencer Rattler against the Buccaneers. It will be the 2024 fifth-round pick’s first NFL start and the first time he’s even played in a regular season game at the pro level.
“We just internally talked a lot about it, and thought in this particular game that he was going to give us the best chance to win. Both him and Jake have been practicing extremely hard, preparing to be the starter. It was kind of the conversation we had at the beginning of the year that Jake would be the [No.] 2 to start, but there’s really basically going to be a week-to-week deal, and we just felt like for this game, he was going to give us the best opportunity.”
Dennis Allen on why Spencer Rattler’s starting
Meanwhile, Haener, who the Saints selected with a fourth-round pick, 127th overall, will resume his duties as the Saints’ backup quarterback, this time for a rookie instead of an 11-year veteran. Haener has completed 2-of-8 passes for 17 yards this season, with most of that action coming during last Sunday’s loss.
Rattler is a bit ‘undersized’ at 6 feet tall, but he has a lively arm, which could help speedsters like Chris Olave and Rashid Shaheed have explosive plays in a big game against the Bucs.
The best of Spencer Rattler from the preseason 🐍
— New Orleans Saints (@Saints) August 27, 2024
📺 https://t.co/KlYFEtUtwd pic.twitter.com/307r1gVbAr
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