Dennis Allen names Spencer Rattler starter for Sunday

By Ross Jackson

Well, that took no time at all.

New Orleans Saints head coach Dennis Allen announced immediately in his post-practice press conference that rookie quarterback Spencer Rattler will be the team’s starter Sunday when the Saints host Tampa Bay.

Starter Derek Carr is expected to miss “multiple weeks” with an oblique injury, and the Saints had to make a big decision at backup quarterback. The team chose to go with Rattler over second-year passer Jake Haener. Allen said that the decision came down to who gave them the best chance to win against a challenging Tampa Bay Buccaneers defense.

“We just internally talked a lot about it,” Allen said. “And felt like in this particular game that he was going to give us the best chance to win. Both him and Jake (Haener) have been practicing extremely hard, preparing to be the starter.”

Allen went on to say that the conversation among the coaching staff set out that Haener would be the second quarterback on gamedays to start, but that it would be a week-to-week evaluation regarding who would go in for injury if Carr needed to miss time. It looks like Rattler worked his way to being the clubhouse favorite for that role, and the Saints will get their first look at the fifth-round rookie quarterback this weekend.