Sean Payton was looking for Saints-Broncos rookie QB Spencer Rattler

“You’ve got a thrill, man.”

—Sean Payton to Spencer Rattler pic.twitter.com/npH71QzQNu

— Saints Film Room (@SaintsFilmRoom) October 18, 2024

Sean Payton is no stranger to the growing pains that come with being a rookie quarterback.

He's currently in the process of helping transitioning Bo Nix, who has experienced some ups and downs not only in his first season in the NFL, but also in his first year as an NFL starter.

New Orleans Saints rookie quarterback Spencer Rattler is also going through some of this, as he was unexpectedly thrown to the Wolves as a starter while veteran Derek Carr is currently sidelined due to injury.

Payton made a point of reaching out to Rattler after the game, praising him for the poise he showed even though the Saints were far from the result they wanted in a 33-10 loss.

“You’ve got some guts, man.” Payton said to Rattler.

Rattler struggled with poor offensive performance and the loss of two of its top wideouts, Chris Olave (concussion) and Rashid Shaheed (knee).

He finished the game completing 25 of 35 passes for 172 yards and five runs for 34 yards. The former South Carolina quarterback failed to get his team into the end zone and was barely able to stay upright as he was sacked about six times.

There was some confusion as to whether Rattler was on the bench late in the game when Jake Haener stepped in at quarterback, but it was later clarified that the decision was made to save Rattler after he suffered from a “hip pointer” injury .

This is probably a good decision by the Saints, as the threat of injury was just one of many issues that contributed to New Orleans' downfall.