METAIRIE, La. -- The New Orleans Saints have been in training camp for one week, and between Tyler Shough, Spencer Rattler and Jake Haener, there's no obvious answer for the starting quarterback role so far.
That's exactly how Saints coach Kellen Moore planned it prior to camp opening last Wednesday.
Moore said he wasn't going to make any quick decisions, with the plan going forward to rotate the Saints' top three quarterbacks until the first preseason game against the Los Angeles Chargers on Aug. 10 (4 p.m. ET, NFL Network).
"Obviously we'll make the adjustments once we get out of that first preseason game and go from there," Moore said.
Through six practices, Shough, Rattler and Haener have each taken turns practicing with the first-team offense, with Shough and Rattler each getting two days at that spot in the first week.
That means the Saints probably have seven more practices in full pads, a potential scrimmage and four quarters of a preseason game to get through before they start narrowing their options.
But Moore said that if the process needs to take all of camp, he's fine with that, too.
"Anytime the decision becomes clear, we'll make the decision, we'll just roll and that can happen whenever. [If] it goes all the way to the end, it goes all the way to the end. If it doesn't, it doesn't," Moore said.
During this early portion of camp, there has been an emphasis on how the quarterbacks respond to mistakes. One example was when Rattler was picked off for the first time on Day 2 of camp in 7-on-7 drills. He responded with a touchdown throw to Juwan Johnson and ran in for a touchdown himself in 11-on-11 work later that practice.
"These competitions aren't just won with one rep," Haener said. "It's a long camp."
The coaches have also told the quarterbacks they want to see how they operate the offense and how effectively they communicate.
"How smooth is it? Can we get in and out of the huddle? I'd say that's the biggest part," Rattler said.
A typical Saints practice has featured multiple sets of both 11-on-11 and 7-on-7 drills. At times, the team has split fields during these drills to allow another quarterback to get additional reps. Some days, such as during Monday's practice, the focus has been on certain situations like third down or the running game.
The Saints have practiced once in full pads so far, with Shough getting an extended look that day. It was an uneven day for the first outing in pads, with Shough scrambling around but finding no one to throw to on two reps of a four-rep 7-on-7 drill. In 11-on-11 drills, one set was run focused on all four reps, and another extended set featured several pressures, a tipped pass (but still caught by Devin Neal) and probably Shough's best throw of the day to Brandin Cooks.
"Tyler's done a nice job. He's communicating at a really high level. He's making good decisions," Moore said. "We'll evaluate each and every day. These guys will grow every day, every opportunity, especially for Tyler in his first time, rookie year training camp. Every day this is a new install, new material, that maybe is a first time for him. And so, he's going through that process. He's done an excellent job."
Rattler, working with the second team, had reps that featured a handoff to Neal that appeared to be punched out of Neal's hands and recovered by Cameron Jordan, a deep incomplete pass to Rashid Shaheed with Ugo Amadi on coverage and perhaps the best play of the day -- a long ball to Shaheed down the sideline for a big gain.
Haener, working with the third team, had only about half as many reps as the other two on Monday.
Cooks praised all three quarterbacks for their professionalism in the competition and said Shough, the No. 40 pick in April's draft, has done a good job of not worrying about any outside expectations.
"Just coming here, ready to compete and not worrying about all the outside noise. Not worrying about if he makes the mistakes or whatever the case may be. Playing fast," Cooks said.
"From [Rattler's] standpoint, I think taking that extra step from the opportunities he got last year, showing his leadership capability throughout practice. And then Jake, not having much OTAs coming out here, just coming, slinging it and same type of mindset, just not worrying about anything else. Just playing his game. ...Their mind is right and they're approaching the situation at a high level."
Katherine Terrell details how defensive coordinator Brandon Staley is excited for safety Julian Blackmon.
More from camp:
Kicking battle: Blake Grupe is competing with Charlie Smyth for the second consecutive summer after Smyth joined the team from Northern Ireland last year. Grupe, who has been the Saints kicker since the start of the 2023 regular season, has stated his case for keeping his role. He has only missed one field goal in training camp (which occurred during a rain shower), while Smyth has gone 5-for-10 in the first week.
Both had impressive kicks of more than 60 yards during minicamp.
No changes for the offensive line: The Saints set their first-team offensive line at OTAs and haven't backed away from that. The first-team unit has been rookie Kelvin Banks Jr. at left tackle, Trevor Penning at left guard, Erik McCoy at center, Cesar Ruiz at right tackle and Taliese Fuaga at right tackle. Fuaga played right tackle at Oregon State (2020-23) but left tackle as a Saints rookie last season, and multiple players have praised the change back to his natural position.
"I think you have your guys for the foreseeable future," McCoy said.