The New Orleans Saints are making a quarterback change.
According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, the Saints are benching Spencer Rattler and will start Tyler Shough as their starting quarterback.
Rattler, who beat out Shough during training camp, was benched at halftime of Sunday’s 23-3 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, which dropped the Saints to 1-7 on the season.
First-year coach Kellen Moore held off on naming a starter in the immediate aftermath of the game.
“We’re just not executing and playing at a high enough standard, and we’ve got to find a way to move the football consistently, protect the football and score points,” Moore said. “And so, this is a pure full offensive evaluation point. I think we just got to evaluate this whole thing in the next 48 hours, find the solutions that give us the best chance to win.”
Slough was a second-round pick by the Saints out of Louisville. For the first half of his rookie season, however, he waited behind Rattler, who showed some promise despite running his record to 1-13. On Sunday, Shough stepped in and completed 17 of 30 passes for 128 yards with one interception.
The Saints will travel to Los Angeles to face the Rams on Sunday at 4:25 p.m. ET.
