How Spencer Rattler overcomes a rocky start despite the Saints’ skid

METAIRIE, La. – New Orleans Saints quarterback Spencer Rattler didn’t need the weekend off to distract himself from football.

Most of the Saints’ roster, except those recovering from injuries, had the weekend off to rest and relax after their 33-10 loss to the Denver Broncos on Thursday night on October 17th.

The idea was to get everyone healthy and get the players back on track after their fifth straight loss. Instead, Rattler stayed in New Orleans and wanted to stay focused before his next start against the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday.

“Pretty quick turnaround, so I didn’t go anywhere,” Rattler said.

Rattler is preparing for his third NFL start with quarterback Derek Carr still out with an oblique injury. Saints coach Dennis Allen said Carr is targeting a return next week, meaning this week’s game against the Chargers could be Rattler’s last start for a while barring another injury.

It’s been a rocky start for Rattler as the team tries to stop a five-game losing streak – its longest since the 2021 season, when it lost five between Weeks 9 and 13. Rattler has completed 62.7% of his passes in his two starts for 415 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. He was sacked 11 times and carried the ball nine times for 61 yards and three fumbles.

“There are a lot of young guys, including myself, making our first starts,” Rattler said. “There will be some bumps in the road, but we have to find a way to make it work.”

Allen stuck with Rattler, saying the film showed the rookie played well when the offensive line could protect him, and he was able to get moving and make some plays with his feet as well. Allen said he’s seen a lot of good things, but the focus now is on eliminating rookie mistakes. Losses of possession have been a problem in recent games – some attributable to Rattler, others beyond his control.

A pass to wide receiver Chris Olave in Rattler’s first start against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers was ruled a fumble and returned for a touchdown, while a sack fumble against the Broncos was also returned for a score. Rattler also had another fumble that was wiped out by an offsides penalty against the Broncos.

Rattler echoed Allen’s call to eliminate these types of mistakes, calling the nullified fumble a mistake where he had better control of the ball even though he knew the defender was offside.

“Just catch the ball and go down. Don’t try to throw it away. Throw it away, throw it away in time,” he said. “I mean, there were two fumble balls that I wanted to throw away. Get them out quicker.”

Rattler said the biggest thing he learned was: “Don’t make a bad game worse.”

“Don’t try to be a superhero and make the big break, just take us to the next step when we need to,” Rattler said. “I think you feel a lot better when you take two plays out of every game that comes out of it. It’s a simple fix and it gets done.”

Allen said Rattler did well during the two starts and didn’t think he was “letting things get to him too much.”

“I think he’s a real competitor. “He loves a different challenge every week in the league, especially as a rookie,” said Saints quarterback coach Andrew Janocko. “I think if you look at him and look at the things he’s been through, he’s prepared for it. …Obviously every week in the NFL is a different beast, but the challenges that he faces… throughout his career, he’s prepared for it and he’s the type of kid that just focuses everything and says, ‘Okay, next play and next Task.”

“And it was a lot of fun working with him, all the good things he did and the things we improved, and just taking the first few starts and seeing how we can get better .”

Rattler, who said his confidence hasn’t waned at all, said he approaches game film by looking at the positives rather than just focusing on one or two negative plays. He said he is still hard on himself but knows how to deal with the adversity of his college playing days.

“A lot of guys, especially freshmen, struggled early this year in their first starts,” Rattler said. “I wouldn’t say we have too many problems. I think we just have to do it, take advantage of the opportunity and rely on our teammates, but our confidence can’t let up. This shouldn’t be allowed to happen.” Negative about it. You have to keep pushing because it will get better.

Rattler has several reasons to be confident heading into his next start. His first two NFL games came amid what Saints general manager Mickey Loomis recently called an avalanche of injuries.

The injured Saints included three starting offensive linemen (Erik McCoy, Lucas Patrick and Cesar Ruiz), starting linebacker Pete Werner, tight end Taysom Hill and the team’s two best receivers in Rashid Shaheed and Olave.

McCoy remains on injured reserve and Shaheed is out for the season, but the rest of the group, including Olave (concussion protocol), returned to practice Wednesday and had a chance to play Sunday against the Chargers.

Saints running back Alvin Kamara, who said he played with a broken hand and cracked ribs, said it was nice to see some of the players again.

“[Cesar] is crazy, he’s out there, he’s moving, Lucas, Taysom, he’s happy out there, he’s all happy and stuff,” Kamara said. “When guys get hurt… you lose some of those personalities, and so when they come back, it feels good.”

The return of several injured players has also given Rattler a boost as he prepares to play with some teammates who have been absent in recent weeks.

“This week we trained for a whole week, the boys came back, we took a break. Rattler said.