METAIRIE, La. (AP) — Saints rookie quarterback Tyler Shough says he doesn’t fear failure.
New Orleans coach Kellen Moore says his newly named starter doesn’t have to — for now.
Shough, a second-round draft choice out of Louisville, has moved from the scout team to the first team as he prepares to make his first NFL start against the surging Rams in Los Angeles on Sunday.
“I’m going to make mistakes. So, I’m going to do everything I can to learn from those mistakes, and then just have fun doing it,” Shough said. “What a great opportunity to go out there and just let it rip.”
Although this week marks a personal milestone for Shough, he’s not entirely in the mood to celebrate. The main reason he’s starting is because the offense has been sluggish — as well as turnover prone, lately — and the Saints share the NFL’s worst record at 1-7.
“Obviously, it’s not a fun situation,” Shough said. “We’ve got to go out there and play better.”
Shough said that was essentially the sentiment Saints first-year coach Moore shared while notifying him that he was being elevated into the starting role in place of second-year QB Spencer Rattler.
Moore was “talking about what we need to do offensively, how we can kind of turn this around a little bit and just looking forward,” Shough said after Wednesday’s practice. “So, it was a good feeling, but also in the same breath that we had a lot of work to do.”
Asked whether he envisioned Shough starting for the duration of the season, Moore said, “Tyler’s starting. We’re not looking back on that.”
“Obviously the goal is to let Tyler play and get going, and Spencer knows that his role is to be the backup and he’s supposed to help Tyler in any possible way,” Moore said. “That’s the whole objective and plan of this thing, is let Tyler go and have a ton of success and navigate the things he has to navigate.”
Moore said his decision was not based simply on the offense’s recent lack of punch with Rattler at QB. The coach said the staff was impressed by how Shough handled scout team duties in practice.
“One of the best things that comes out of being a scout-team quarterback is the pockets aren’t going to be ideal,” Moore said. “You’re playing against your starting defense. … So, you’re going to be in some challenging, compromised situations.
“You’re going to have to force yourself to adapt and hang in there and still deliver a throw,” Moore added.
The opportunity hasn’t exactly come easy for Shough, who is 26 years old and had an injury plagued, seven-year college career that included stops of three years each at Oregon and Texas Tech before he finished up at Louisville in 2024.
When the Saints selected him 40th overall in last spring’s NFL Draft, Shough became the franchise’s highest-drafted QB since New Orleans took Archie Manning second overall in 1971.
When he learned he’d start this week, Shough said the first person he told was his wife, Jordan, a former Oregon soccer player, who’d been at his side for all of the ups and downs of his college career.
Her response was what one might expect from a highly competitive, former Division I athlete.
“She was like, ‘Good. Go out there and win,’” Shough said. “She’s not really satisfied — and neither am I.”
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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
By BRETT MARTEL
AP Sports Writer
