The New Orleans Saints can't catch a break at the most important position in the NFL. While Derek Carr surely wasn't the answer – and the Saints would have rather moved on from the veteran signal-caller eventually anyway – they did not expect him to suddenly retire after the NFL Draft. This left the Saints with three young players all vying for the starting spot in Spencer Rattler, Tyler Shough and Jake Haener. If you can believe it, that situation just got a little worse thanks to Haener.
Per ESPN's Adam Schefter, Haener suffered an injury at Wednesday's practice that is likely to keep him out a few weeks. "Jake Haener was injured after Wednesday’s practice, while throwing extra passes. After getting hurt, Haener underwent an MRI that revealed a strain but no oblique tear, and surgery was not needed. But the Saints now might have seen the last of Haener in action until training camp," Schefter wrote.
As Schefter notes, the injury isn't expected to be a long-term problem for Haener, but his time at Saints OTAs is likely over. That gives Rattler and Shough an unexpected advantage in competing for the starting quarterback spot. However, it also hurts New Orleans as a whole, as the trio was learning a new system under head coach Kellen Moore. With Haener falling behind, that takes another decent QB option away prior to training camp.
Jake Haener's injury could keep him out until Saints training camp
It's unclear which of these players has the edge as of this writing. Rattler has a lot going for him with Haener out of the picture. He is younger than Shough – who is a rookie out of Louisville – and has NFL passes under his belt. Shough cannot compete with age (obviously) or the NFL experience of Rattler, even if it was mostly flawed.
Rattler went 0-6 last season with the Saints, but didn't do enough to guarantee a starting spot this year if Carr were in the fold. Now that Carr packed up his bags and left, Rattler is the favorite for the job. New Orleans spent significant draft capital on Shough, who was a second-round pick, so Rattler's leash wouldn't be too long if he were to start Week 1 against the Arizona Cardinals.
Haener will get every opportunity to make up for lost time in training camp, but one can't help but wonder if the Saints should be more aggressive in signing one of the remaining quarterbacks remaining on the free-agent market.
A QB room of Haener, Rattler and Shough was a bad look to begin with. Now it's even worse.