Saints to start Andy Dalton at QB in Week 11 game vs. Rams

New Orleans Saints head coach Dennis Allen isn't yet ready to go back to quarterback Jameis Winston. 

According to Katherine Terrell of ESPN, Allen confirmed Wednesday that Andy Dalton will remain his starter over Winston when the 3-7 Saints host the 3-6 Los Angeles Rams this Sunday. 

"We're going to go with Andy," Allen said of the decision. "We discussed it as a staff. I got an opportunity to talk to both quarterbacks, and I feel like right now, Andy is the direction that we want to go." 

Winston hasn't played since Week 3, has dealt with foot and back injuries since August, and lost his spot atop the depth chart to Dalton earlier this fall. 

However, the Saints have dropped four of their last five games with Dalton under center, and Allen suggested on Monday he could go back to Winston for this Sunday's encounter. 

Allen also said at that time Winston may not fully recover from his physical setbacks until the upcoming offseason. With New Orleans' offensive line impacted by multiple injury woes, Allen may be protecting Winston from himself until further notice. 

"We're not going to belabor this point, but yet, a lot of the factors just went into how we're playing and how we're operating, obviously," Allen added during his comments. "And it's not good enough, but part of the factor is, there's a lot of elements in this team that have to improve, and there's a lot of other areas that we have to work on to help in that regard, so we'll play better as a team. You kind of want to look at one spot, but there's a lot of positions that have to play better, and that's where we're starting."

ESPN stats show that Dalton, 2-5 as a starter this season, enters Week 11 17th among eligible quarterbacks with an 89.6 passer rating and 23rd with a 45.9 total QBR. In his seven games, he's completed 65% of his pass attempts for 1,559 yards with 11 touchdowns and seven interceptions. 

It's unclear when or if Allen could potentially start Winston before Week 18. Following this weekend, the Saints next play at the San Francisco 49ers (5-4) on Nov. 27.