Saints HC addresses how Tyler Shough responded to 'welcome to the NFL' moment

Shough quickly responded to that setback by connecting with Mason Tipton for a 54-yard score.

Following New Orleans' 27-13 defeat at SoFi Stadium, first-year Saints head coach Kellen Moore addressed how Shough bounced back from a costly error.

"We don't want to create turnovers," Moore said, per the Saints' website. "We want to avoid those the best we can, but the way these guys respond is really, really critical to us. That's what is going to happen in this league as you go through these seasons, and so I thought he did a great job. We'll learn from the interception. We'll learn from that one. We'll grow, but his response was really valuable."

Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk noted that Shough got the most reps against the Chargers amid a competition for the New Orleans starting job that also involves 2024 fifth-round draft pick Spencer Rattler and 2023 fourth-rounder Jake Haener. Rattler started versus the Chargers and completed 7-of-11 passes for 53 yards. He also recorded a team-high 22 rushing yards on three attempts.

Shough connected on 15-of-22 passes for 165 yards with a touchdown and the pick. Haener completed 5-of-8 attempts for 41 yards and an interception.

"I think for all three, there's going to be some good moments, there's going to be some moments we want to have back," Moore said about his quarterbacks. "We get to learn from those, get better this week. I thought Spencer did some good stuff coming out of there, using his feet in some situations where he had some avoided zone areas. He was able to make some plays out of. Probably for us, just playing some situational football, we were close on getting in the range for some points and we just weren't able to get those things done."

Rattler reportedly grabbed at least a slight lead in the quarterback battle ahead of the weekend, but Shough seems to still have a chance to win the job before New Orleans' Week 1 game against the Arizona Cardinals on Sept. 7. As of Monday morning, FanDuel Sportsbook had Rattler as a -245 betting favorite to get the nod for the Arizona matchup. Shough was at +190 odds, followed by Haener at +4000 odds.

"You throw a pick, you got to respond," Moore said about Shough. "Obviously no one wants to throw an interception. The way he responded was really, really good for him to come back and handle that from an emotional standpoint really well. I thought that was awesome." 

Both Rattler and Shough should receive more opportunities to impress when New Orleans continues its preseason with a home game against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Aug. 17.