According to the Saints, Spencer Rattler will start at quarterback if Derek Carr isn’t available

Monday is probably going to be the third starting quarterback for the New Orleans Saints in as many weeks.

Saints interim coach Darren Rizzi stated on Thursday that Spencer Rattler would likely start if Derek Carr is declared out as anticipated for the game against Green Bay.

On December 8, during New Orleans’ 14–11 victory over the New York Giants, Carr injured his left (non-throwing) hand. He missed the Saints’ 20-19 loss against the Washington Commanders on Sunday and skipped Thursday’s practice.

“If he was done for the season, we would have put him on (injured reserve) by now and shut him down,” Rizzi said of Carr. It simply isn’t the case. Thursday was one of his best days, so we’ll do that as soon as he can function and get out there to regain some functionality.”

Carr was replaced against Washington by Jake Haener, who made his first NFL start but was benched after only completing 4 of 10 passes for 49 yards and an interception.

After taking over, Rattler completed 10 of 21 throws for 135 yards, including a 1-yard touchdown strike to Foster Moreau as the clock ran out. The Saints lost because of his failed pass on the next two-point conversion try.

During Weeks 6 through 8 when Carr was out, Rattler started and lost all three games, completing 59.6 percent of his passes for 571 yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions.

According to Rizzi, running back Alvin Kamara was also absent from the Saints’ Thursday practice due to a groin injury that makes him questionable for Monday. Kamara’s status was stated as week-to-week by the coach.

“The initial tests were, it wasn’t really going to be that bad, and it’s just a little bit more significant, so a little bit more missed time,” Rizzi stated.
Kamara has six touchdowns on the ground this season and leads the Saints with 950 running yards.

In theory, the Saints (5-9) are still in the running for the playoffs going into their matchup with the Packers (10-4) on Monday.