Tyler Shough will have room to grow and show as he steps in as starting quarterback for the New Orleans Saints.
The rookie – New Orleans' second-round draft pick this year, No. 40 overall – will make his first start Sunday when the Saints (1-7) face the Rams (5-2) at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Cal.
Shough replaced Spencer Rattler in the third quarter of Sunday's 23-3 loss to Tampa Bay in the Caesars Superdome, and completed 17 of 30 passes for 128 yards, with no touchdowns and an interception.
"Tyler's starting. We're not looking back on that," Saints coach Kellen Moore said Wednesday. "Obviously, the goal is to let Tyler play and get going.
"Spencer knows that his role is to be the backup and he's there to help Tyler in any possible way. He did an excellent job today running the scout team, preparing just like he would be as the starter any other week. The good thing we've got going is that (quarterbacks) room is a bunch of A-plus people, and they handle it awesome."
Shough, the Saints' highest-drafted quarterback since Archie Manning was taken with the No. 2 overall pick in 1971, understands that there's much work to be done offensively.
New Orleans has scored 11 touchdowns on offense this season and it's 16-points-per-game average is fourth fewest in the league. Four times, the Saints have scored 14 or fewer points; twice, they've topped 20.
"It was a good feeling (being named starter) but in the same breath, we've got a lot of work to do," Shough said. "That's my mindset. Nothing changes process-wise, but the sense of urgency does. We're just going to have fun. We've got to go out there and put points on the board and go out there and win."
"I think Tyler has progressed really well," Moore said. "He has done some really good things. Obviously, a lot of stuff that's behind the scenes that we get to see each and every day. Offensively, our objective is to score more points. We've got to find a way. It starts with me, giving us that opportunity and putting a plan together.
"The biggest thing is growth. You get to make a mistake or two. You get to grow from those, you don't make the same mistakes. Tyler is going to be on that journey here and I think he's going to handle it really well."
Shough and Rattler battled for the starting position throughout the offseason before Rattler was named starter prior to the season opener. In eight games he completed 174 of 256 passes for 1,586 yards and eight touchdowns, with five interceptions. But after committing six turnovers in six quarters (two lost fumbles, four interceptions) in losses to Chicago and Tampa Bay, Moore turned to Shough for a spark against the Buccaneers.
"Spencer has done some really, really good things," Moore said. "I think if anything, Spencer has proven that he can win games in this league, he can play at a really high level. He's done a lot of good things. This will be an exciting time for Tyler, but Spencer will be ready and he'll continue to grow as well. These are two young quarterbacks that we feel really good about.
"I felt like Tyler was ready. I felt like at the end of the day, one of the more important aspects of this is offensively, we've got to find a little bit more success, a little bit more consistency. I think Tyler's ready to go. He's prepared really well through this whole process. Patience, sometimes you've got to play that game a little bit, and he's ready to go."
That patience will be extended to Shough.
"We're not doing this back-and-forth thing," Moore said. "That (Shough starting the rest of the season) is the goal.
"That's the whole objective and plan of this thing, is let Tyler go and let him have a ton of success and navigate the things he has to navigate."
