Saints rookie Spencer Rattler starts at QB vs. Buccaneers

METAIRIE, La. — The New Orleans Saints will start rookie quarterback Spencer Rattler against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday, coach Dennis Allen said Wednesday.

Rattler will start in place of the injured Derek Carr, who suffered an oblique injury Monday against the Kansas City Chiefs. Allen said that Carr's return will be a week-to-week decision and that Carr will keep his original job if he is healthy.

“Overall I think he's doing well, and yet I think he's disappointed that he can't be out here,” Allen said. “He's a guy that hasn't missed a lot of time, he doesn't want to miss a lot of time, so I think he's frustrated with that part.”

The Saints play two games in five days – Sunday against Tampa Bay and then Oct. 17 against the Denver Broncos on “Thursday Night Football.”

Rattler, a 2024 fifth-round draft pick from South Carolina, won the starting job over second-year player Jake Haener, but Allen declined to elaborate on why they chose the rookie this week.

“We just talked about it a lot internally and felt like he would give us the best chance to win in this particular game,” Allen said. “Both he and Jake have been training extremely hard and preparing to be the starter. It was kind of a conversation we had at the beginning of the year that Jake would be the No. 2 starter. … That's really it. “Basically it's going to be kind of a week-by-week deal and we just felt like that would give us the best option for this game.”

The Saints' offensive line has been reshuffled in recent weeks due to injuries, and their starting center and right guard are currently out of the lineup. The Saints snapped up Connor McGovern at center against the Chiefs after signing him from the Jets' practice squad last week, moved Landon Young from tackle to guard and put Lucas Patrick at both center and guard.

When asked if the current state of the offensive line played a role in his decision, Allen said Rattler's ability to move and run in the pocket was “part of it.”

“There were a lot of factors that came into play,” Allen said. “We definitely felt like he was a little more mobile.”

Allen said Rattler has been through a lot during his time at Oklahoma and South Carolina and he has experience as a starter even if he hasn't taken NFL snaps yet.

“He was tested in the fire and came out the other end,” Allen said. “We are thrilled with him. We look forward to watching him play and it will be our job as coaches to put him in the best possible position to be successful.”

The Saints listed both Rattler and Haener as the No. 2 quarterback at the start of the season, and Allen said he wanted the competition to continue throughout the season. Rattler has been inactive for five games so far as the team's emergency third quarterback, while Haener has filled in for Carr in blowout wins and the loss to the Chiefs.

Allen said they didn't make the decision on which quarterback would be the starter if Carr missed time until this week.

“We knew we had to make some decisions if Derek ever had to miss time,” Allen said. “In that regard, I think it was always in the back of our minds, but still no decision was made until we got in here and really started talking about it.”

Allen said their philosophy is to be patient with Rattler, although he acknowledged starting as a rookie comes with challenges.

“Look, I think you have to let the guy go in there and play,” Allen said. “We're not going into this game saying, 'If you make a mistake, we're going to take you off.' He will play and lead the team.

He later added: “The biggest thing is that you don't want to go into this thing like it's some big ordeal. I'm trained to sometimes make too much of it and cause more trouble than you really need. So we go through the things he needs to know prepared and then we let him go out and play.”

Through three preseason appearances, Rattler completed 20 of 38 pass attempts (52.6%) for 202 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions while rushing seven times for 26 yards and losing a fumble.