METAIRIE, La. -- Spencer Rattler's confidence hasn't wavered in the past year.
As the New Orleans Saints (0-1) began their week of preparation against the San Francisco 49ers (1-0), Rattler sounded assured and poised when he talked about how the team wants to improve from their Week 1 loss to the Arizona Cardinals.
He said he wanted to extend more plays with his legs, blamed himself for the one sack he took and said he wanted to work on his accuracy after finishing 27-of-46 for 217 yards.
Rattler lamented the 13 penalties in the 20-13 loss, many of which occurred pre-snap. The penalties were concerning enough for Saints coach Kellen Moore to bring officials back to practices for two days, something the team hadn't done since training camp.
By the time the Saints got to practice on Wednesday, according to Rattler, they were "locked in."
"Seeing what happened in the game kind of woke us all up today," said Rattler. "We really need to take this serious -- pre-snap, post-snap, all this stuff, alignment, assignment, details."
Saints wide receiver Chris Olave has noticed Rattler taking the lead in practice, speaking up when something is off and figuring out a way to fix things or work on them after practice.
"I feel like that's just helping us believe in him, even helping himself believe in himself," Olave said. "Just trying to be that perfectionist in practice, so in a game it would be a lot easier."
Whether that attention to detail will translate to a Week 2 win Sunday against the San Francisco 49ers (1 p.m. ET, Fox) is the major question. The Saints have not won a game since Dec. 8, 2024, when they beat the New York Giants in quarterback Derek Carr's final game as the starter.
Rattler is 0-7 as a starter dating back to last season, joining a rare group. According to ESPN Research, only 11 quarterbacks have lost their first eight starts since 1950, when the statistic began to be tracked.
Some of those games were difficult for Rattler, whose stint as the Saints' starting quarterback had an expiration date last season. At the time, Rattler was the temporary fill-in for Carr, who was injured twice during the season and repeatedly said he intended to make it back after breaking his hand in December.
In Rattler's seven games in 2024, he was benched for Jake Haener in the third quarter of a 26-8 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers by then coach Dennis Allen. When Allen was fired and interim coach Darren Rizzi took over, Rizzi initially went with Haener against the Washington Commanders. He changed his mind after the Saints were shut out 14-0 in the first half, and Rattler almost led the team back for a win.
He threw four touchdowns -- all to players currently not on the active roster -- and was sacked 22 times and threw five interceptions.
All the adversity has given Rattler the experience necessary to overcome a tough start in 2025. But it also hasn't changed his demeanor, according to Saints tight end Juwan Johnson.
"I wouldn't say that anything has kind of changed from just a conference standpoint," Johnson said. "I would say just I guess being confident in the offense. I feel like your confidence comes from preparation and what you do in the offense, so I feel like from then and now ... it's a little bit different, but similar."
When the Saints ran the two-minute drill to try to mount a comeback against the Cardinals last week, Rattler looked poised as he attempted to get the offense in scoring position. His efforts fell short at the Saints' 18-yard line with incompletions to Johnson and Olave.
"He was awesome, he really was. He was dialed in," Saints offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier said. "Communication was excellent throughout the game. He had great vision. Obviously he made a few mistakes, but he also made quite a few plays for us. Good first outing."
For a brief moment it looked like Rattler and Johnson had connected in the end zone, but Johnson couldn't hang on to the ball as he was falling backward with one defender draped over him and another coming in to punch out the ball.
"Tough catch. It's a tough catch," Rattler said. "You've got to go up on three guys and bring it down, and Budda [Baker] hits you and the safety tries to punch at it. I can't be mad at that. He put everything on the line, and I gave him a chance and we'll make it the next time."
Johnson and Rattler have been in a similar situation before. Last season the Saints were trying beat the Commanders on a last-second, two-point attempt. Rattler targeted Johnson and the pass sailed wide off Johnson's hands as he dove for it.
Johnson had a team-high 33 targets from Rattler last season, and he led the team with eight targets on Sunday.
"I thought me and Juwan had a great connection going back to last year," Rattler said. "I mean he was one of our top guys, and it's going to be the same thing this year. ... He'll make big time plays for us all year, and we've got to trust in him and we're going to keep getting him the ball."
Perhaps learning from the mistakes of 2024 will give Rattler the growth to guide the Saints to his first win as an NFL starter. Rattler said last week that knowing he's the Week 1 starter instead of a temporary starter feels like a "clear vision."
"You go out there, don't have to worry about nothing, play fast, play your game and just lead," Rattler said. "I feel like the team's got trust in me, coach has got trust in me. I've just got to keep getting better, keep leading, and we're going to get some wins."