Tag: Jake Haener

Derek Carr tempering expectations in return from injury: ‘I am no savior’

Derek Carr is setting expectations ahead of his Week 9 return from an injury: ‘I am here to be a great leader and to be a great teammate’

Derek Carr set expectations ahead of his Week 9 return from an injury. He knows he can’t fix all the New Orleans Saints’ problems on his own, and he downplayed the pressure that comes with a starting quarterback returning amid a six-game losing streak.

“I am no savior. There’s only been one of those and that is not me,” Carr told reporters Wednesday. “I am here to be a great leader, and to be a great teammate, and to do my job to the best of my ability.”

Carr missed the last three games with an oblique muscle injury — an uncommon issue in football that’s typically seen in athletes for other sports. Rather than a pain tolerance challenge, it’s limited Carr’s range of motion and ability to wind up and throw with force. So he’s had to stand by and watch his team go out and compete and lose games without him.

Still, like he said, his return isn’t going to cure everything ailing them. The offensive line needs to hold up in protection. The receivers need to get open. Dennis Allen’s handcrafted defense needs to stop the run and  pressure the opposing quarterback. Their inability to do those things consistently has cost them six games in a row, on top of Spencer Rattler and Jake Haener’s struggles during Carr’s three-game absence.

But getting Carr back should help in some phases. Rattler took some sacks and misfired some throws that Carr would handle better. Erik McCoy’s injury has forced the quarterbacks to make protection adjustments at the line and that’s something an established pro is better prepared for than a rookie. Now, will it make a difference? It ought to, especially against a Carolina Panthers team the Saints beat once already, but you never know. One NFL team can upset another on any given Sunday.

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Spencer Rattler won’t be the Saints’ QB2 in Week 9 vs. Panthers

With Derek Carr returning this week, Jake Haener will be the backup quarterback. Spencer Rattler will go back to being the emergency QB3:

The New Orleans Saints are going back to the way things were as they prepare for the Week 9 showdown against the Carolina Panthers. After getting a slew of players returning from injury a week ago, they’ll get another major piece back on offense.

Derek Carr will return from an oblique injury and take his role as the starting quarterback, and it will cause the rotation to shift again. Dennis Allen announced Jake Haener will be Carr’s backup and Spencer Rattler will be the emergency third quarterback. This is a return to how things were prior to Carr’s injury.

Haener’s role has remained constant throughout the entire season. Whether Carr or Rattler was the starter, Haener was always the number two. There was a question of why Haener either didn’t start or why isn’t Rattler now the backup. Allen declined to share insight on the thought process.

Rattler was benched for Haener in his final start. That could have been the reasoning for the decision. It wouldn’t be surprising to see Haener get the start if Carr has to miss another game this year.

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Mickey Loomis says he’s ‘bullish’ on young Saints quarterbacks

Jake Haener relieved Spencer Rattler vs. the Chargers, but Mickey Loomis remains ‘bullish’ on both of the Saints young quarterbacks:

Despite Jake Haener coming in in relief of Spencer Rattler against the Los Angeles Chargers, Mickey Loomis gave both of the New Orleans Saints’ young quarterbacks a vote of confidence.

Loomis joined the WWL Radio Coaches Show on Tuesday and expressed belief in both players saying, “I’m really bullish on Spencer and Jake both.”

It’d be reckless for Loomis say otherwise, but there is a likely a lot of truth in his statements.

Dennis Allen articulated how close the race for Derek Carr’s backup was coming into the season. Rattler’s struggles shouldn’t have changed that. Missing Chris Olave and Rashid Shaheed left Rattler operating with an empty toolbox for multiple games. That doesn’t even begin to account for the protection issues.

Rattler definitely struggled, but asking a fifth round pick to perform well under those conditions in his first starts was a tall task. He didn’t hit the bar, but it would be too early to be out on the rookie.

As for Haener, he looked good in his limited action, so there’s no reason to not be bullish on him. The Saints should view their young quarterbacks similarly to how they did entering the year. These are players with potential but still in need of some refinement.

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Dennis Allen explains why he made a change at quarterback vs. Chargers

Dennis Allen explains why he made a change at quarterback against the Chargers. He felt Jake Haener ‘did some good things’ in relief of Spencer Rattler:

Dennis Allen said he’d give Spencer Rattler a long leash, and he was good on his word. The New Orleans Saints head coach stood by his rookie quarterback for two and a half games before deciding he’d seen enough. Trailing the Los Angeles Chargers 16-5 midway through the third quarter, Allen benched Rattler and told quarterbacks coach Andrew Janocko to warm up second-year backup Jake Haener.

“Look I just felt like we needed to do something to get something going offensively. We weren’t able to move the football. I felt we needed to do something to get some kind of spark,” Allen said after the game.

To that point, Rattler had led the offense for nine possessions, gaining 179 yards on 36 plays and managing just three points (on a 40-yard field goal). After switching to Haener for their last four drives, the offense gained 157 yards on 29 plays. Blake Grupe connected on another field goal (from 43 yards) but missed his third attempt (from 44 yards).

“I thought he did some good things,” Allen said of Haener. “Created a few plays. Took us down and gave us an opportunity to score some points. But ultimately we just have got to play better as a group.”

All told, Rattler completed 12 of his 24 passes for 156 yards, though he took 3 sacks for a loss of 16 yards. Haener went 9-of-17 for 122 yards and also lost 16 yards on a pair of sacks, but he made up for it by scrambling twice for a gain of 10 yards. So while the offense did get a small spark, it wasn’t enough to make a difference.

Allen acknowledged that Rattler had some shortcomings but he wasn’t willing to put all of the blame on the rookie: “I think there was a couple of reads it probably could’ve been better on. And look we certainly didn’t help him with a couple of drops and things of that nature, I think the margin for error right now is small. When we have opportunities to make plays, we have to be able to make the plays.”

Will Haener get another look? Maybe. Derek Carr is likely returning this week against the Carolina Panthers, but if he suffers a setback while recovering from injury the coaches could choose to stick with Haener rather than Rattler. It would be worth starting Haener to get a larger sample size to evaluate later, but at the end of the day the Saints must go with whoever gives them the best chance to win. They’re 2-6. They can’t assume these players and coaches will still be here next year. If this losing streak continues even bigger changes should be expected in the offseason.

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Saints QB Spencer Rattler reacts to being benched: ‘It is what it is’

Spencer Rattler was benched during the third quarter of Sunday’s loss to the Los Angeles Chargers in favor of quarterback Jake Haener. He spoke about the change after the game:

New Orleans Saints rookie quarterback Spencer Rattler was benched during the third quarter in favor of former Fresno State passer Jake Haener during Sunday’s 26-8 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers.

The Saints initially chose to roll with Rattler over Haener when starting quarterback Derek Carr went down withy an injury earlier in the season, but they may be rethinking things with the way the rookie has struggled.

The performance he put on in his latest showing was unconvincing, as he went 12-of-24 passing for 155 yards.

In a way, it’s hard to blame Rattler for some of his issues because of how thin the Saints currently are at wide receiver, the way he was thrown into the fire as a rookie without warning and the countless other problems out of his control that the Saints need to remedy.

“I think we were moving the ball at a good rate in the first half and then a little bit in that second half,” Rattler said after the game. “We would go forward and then backward. Forward and backward. So, we all shot ourselves in the foot a little bit just with the little things and the way we played just didn’t win the game.”

Specifically on being benched, Rattler isn’t focused on the decision and it doesn’t seem to be getting to him personally.

“I control the controllables and I’m just a team guy, so I’m going to want us to win either way. So, it is what it is,” Rattler added.

It will be interesting to watch what the Saints do moving forward at quarterback with a matchup against the Carolina Panthers set for Noon CT/1 p.m. ET on Nov. 3 in Charlotte.

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Chargers beat the Saints for first time since Drew Brees was their QB

This hasn’t happened in 20 years. The last time the Chargers beat the Saints, Drew Brees was their quarterback:

This hasn’t happened in 20 years. The last time the Los Angeles Chargers beat the New Orleans Saints, Drew Brees was their quarterback. But that feat repeated itself on Sunday when Justin Herbert quarterbacked the Chargers to a 26-8 win. The Saints fell to 2-6 on the season after benching rookie quarterback Spencer Rattler in hopes that Jake Haener could provide a spark. New Orleans still lost 26-8.

So what happened last time on Nov. 6, 2004? Brees outdueled Aaron Brooks in a 43-17 romp, throwing four touchdown passes (three of them to star tight end Antonio Gates). Deuce McAllister led the Saints with 63 rushing yards and kept the team in the game with an early touchdown run of his own, but he couldn’t do it all himself.

Of course things took a surprising turn in the years to follow. Brees suffered  a career-threatening shoulder injury and was let go into free agency, where the Saints signed him.  A few years after that McAllister led the team out of the tunnel in their bid to win Super Bowl XLIV. The rest is history. The Saints won four in a row against the Chargers including an overtime victory in 2020.

And it’s all behind us, now. What matters most is that the Saints can’t get out of their own way and end this losing streak. They don’t have a quarterback like Brees on the roster anymore, though the Chargers have something special in Justin Herbert. If New Orleans can’t get back in the win column soon, these memories will be all they have.

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Saints bench rookie QB in the second half vs. Chargers

The Saints benched rookie quarterback Spencer Rattler in favor of Jake Haener after falling behind in Week 8 against the Los Angeles Chargers:

The New Orleans Saints have made another change at quarterback. Second-year backup Jake Haener stepped in for rookie passer Spencer Rattler late in the third quarter of Week 8’s game with the Los Angeles Chargers.

To that point, Rattler had completed 12 of 24 passes for 155 yards, taking three sacks. The Saints were trailing 16-5 and clearly hoped Haener could provide a spark.

We’ll see if it works. Haener led the team’s only touchdown-scoring drive a week ago in the Saints’  Thursday night loss to t he Denver Broncos, so he clearly has some command of the offense. Both quarterbacks are backing up Derek Carr once he returns from an oblique injury but the starter is likely still a week away.

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Derek Carr’s Week 8 injury designation is a bit misleading

Saints QB Derek Carr is doubtful not because there’s a chance he can start in Week 8, but rather to keep the door open in case of emergency:

Derek Carr began throwing the football over the weekend and had a few more throwing sessions this week. New Orleans Saints head coach Dennis Allen is on record saying Carr playing this week was unlikely, but don’t allow Carr’s injury designation to make you think hope is still alive.

The Saints listed Carr as doubtful for one reason. They want to have the option to name him the emergency quarterback. If Carr was ruled out ahead of the game, he wouldn’t be able to assume this role.

Spencer Rattler is the starter and Jake Haener will be his backup. Carr’s ability to be the emergency quarterback is a good sign for his recovery, but it does not mean he’s healthy enough to start a full game and throw 20 or 30 passes. Allen has said before that his issues are mechanical, not related to pain tolerance. If there’s a hitch in his windup or some limited range of motion or torque, it could be disastrous.

Russell Wilson was the Steelers’ emergency quarterback for weeks before becoming the starting quarterback when he was healthy enough to play. That is essentially what this would be if Carr was the emergency quarterback in Week 8.

The Saints went through this process last week, but ultimately opted to make Carr inactive on game day. Still, they kept the door open, and that’s what they’re trying to do now.

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Saints won’t be changing their plans at quarterback any time soon

The Saints won’t be changing their plans at quarterback. If Derek Carr can’t return this week, Spencer Rattler will start, not Jake Haener:

There isn’t any question about who the New Orleans Saints want starting at quarterback — Derek Carr is who head coach Dennis Allen believes gives them the best chance to win each week. But Carr is still recovering from an oblique muscle injury and not expected back until Week 9’s game with the Carolina Panthers at the soonest, which means it’ll be one of his backups starting again in Week 8’s road trip to face the Los Angeles Chargers.

And Allen isn’t deviating from his path. Rookie quarterback Spencer Rattler is preparing to start his third consecutive game, not second-year pro Jake Haener.

“No, the plan would be to stay with Spencer. And I think Spencer has done some good things,” Allen began, “I mean obviously there are some rookie mistakes. Got to do a better job of protecting the football, that would probably be the biggest thing we have to do a better job of. But I feel when you go back and watch the tape and he’s got protection, I thought he did a good job of throwing the football and creating some things with his feet. He was accurate when he was outside the pocket. So I’ve seen a lot of good things from him. We’ve got to eliminate some of the negative plays.”

Through two games, Rattler has completed 47 of 75 passes for 415 yards with one touchdown against two interceptions. He’s also been sacked 11 times. Of the 28 quarterbacks with fewer than 100 dropbacks this season, Rattler is the only one with double-digit sacks. He’s also one of six quarterbacks with multiple interceptions on such a small sample size.

But so long as Carr is out dealing with an injury during the week, it’ll be Rattler preparing to start in his place. Allen and the Saints coaching staff want him learning from these mistakes and working to overcome adversity so he can develop into a better pro. Haener is waiting in the wings for his opportunity.

He certainly made the most of it against the Broncos. The Saints pulled Rattler after he suffered a hip pointer injury late in the fourth quarter, but Haener led the offense into its only scoring drive of the night, which ended with a touchdown pass to Cedrick Wilson Jr. He completed 3 of 4 passes for 38 yards after taking over at midfield.

For now, that’s all Haener can do. Until Carr is cleared to practice fully and lead the offense himself, all eyes are on Rattler. The rookie needs to keep working and improving and make sure his coaches’ eyes don’t start to wander in the meantime.

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Opinion: Spencer Rattler should remain Saints’ starter until Derek Carr returns

Opinion: Jake Haener looked good at the end of the Broncos game on his few plays, but the Saints should stick with Spencer Rattler as the starter

Spencer Rattler left the New Orleans Saints game against the Denver Broncos on the final drive. If he’s healthy, he should continue to be the Saints starter until Derek Carr returns.

Jake Haener finished the drive Rattler departed with a touchdown. It was a struggle for the offense all night, but Haener looked smooth in the few plays he played. The most notable difference was how quickly he got rid of the football even when the Broncos sent the house after him on a blitz.

Despite this difference in performance, Dennis Allen should continue rolling with the rookie. As much as the decision was meant for the present, playing Rattler benefitted your future. That likely played a part in the decision, if it wasn’t the driving factor.

Rattler has the ceiling to be your next starting quarterback after Carr. He showed promise in his debut, but struggled with ball security against Denver. Sitting him after a bad game would be counterproductive to his development.

Ratter should be given a chance with some of the returning weapons. His two starts have come without any of the starting interior linemen or Taysom Hill. Rattler played just three snaps with Chris Olave and one full game with Rashid Shaheed. It would nice to get an evaluation of him with his top weapons available and better protection in front of him.

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