The Saints can’t afford to let Tyler Shough’s body become the storyline, but that’s where this is headed if the hits keep coming.
New Orleans has leaned hard on Shough to drive the offense, and the supporting cast hasn’t exactly made life easier. The run game has offered almost nothing, and Shough has been dealing with constant pressure. Now the injuries are starting to stack up, and that’s a dangerous place for a team already trying to survive on offense.
ESPN reporter Katherine Terrell tweeted that Shough’s right hand was being examined at training camp after he took a sack. The effect showed up immediately in the passing game: the Saints’ average pass dropped from 10.4 air yards to 1.5 yards after that hit, and he did not complete a pass longer than four yards after the sack.
That’s not a one-off concern either. Shough also broke two bones in his left hand earlier in 2026 and has been playing through that injury. If the hand issues keep piling up, the Saints’ offense is going to feel it fast.
The bigger problem is that New Orleans is giving its quarterback almost no margin for error. Kellen Moore’s first order of business has to be getting the ground game moving. The Saints just turned in their worst rushing performance against the Pittsburgh Steelers, finishing with 18 yards on 17 attempts for 1.1 yards per carry. 42-year-old Aaron Rodgers had more rushing yards than the Saints' leading running back; that’s unacceptable.
It matters for Shough even if the box score doesn’t scream quarterback problem. Defenses don’t fear the Saints on the ground right now, and they have no reason to. That lets pass rushers pin their ears back and attack the backfield instead of respecting the run or worrying about edge discipline.
Against a player like TJ Watt, that becomes a serious issue. The offensive line can only absorb so much when the defense knows what’s coming. If the Saints don’t change the way teams have to defend them, Shough is going to keep taking hits.
The injury history doesn’t help ease anyone’s mind. While he has stayed relatively healthy in the NFL, his college career included broken collarbones twice and a broken leg once. Those weren’t soft tissue problems, and they aren’t injuries that have resurfaced, but they do paint a picture of a quarterback who has already dealt with a lot.
If Shough were to miss time, Spencer Rattler would step in. He’s a capable backup, but not someone who can carry an offense the way Shough can.
That’s why this has to be handled carefully. The Saints can’t afford for this to spiral.
The timing at least gives them a breather. New Orleans is heading into its bye week, which gives Shough two weeks to recover and, ideally, get back to full strength. But the break only helps if Moore can use it to fix the run game and cut down on the punishment Shough is taking.
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Jason Kelces first run through the NFLs international broadcast circuit has not been especially smooth, and the rough edges were on display again during the Steelers game in Paris. The retired guard has already drawn scrutiny from viewers for his work in the booth, and this one only added to the chatter as fans picked apart the small mistakes that can stand out in a big showcase setting.
One of the more noticeable misses came when Kelce referred to Steelers running back Jaylen Warren by the wrong name, a slip that quickly made the rounds among viewers. Kurt Warner made a similar mistake, but Kelce took most of the heat, another reminder that even in a game being played overseas, the microscope on the broadcast can be just as sharp as the one on the field. [Read more 🡒]
Saints Loss In Paris Put One Offensive Problem Front And Center
The Saints trip to Paris ended with another loss, but the film offered a familiar split screen: a defense that kept fighting and an offense still struggling to find enough consistency to cash in on it. New Orleans got strong work from Tyler Shough and Barion Brown, and Chase Youngs second-half push helped keep the game within reach, yet the larger story was how hard the offense had to work just to stay afloat against the pressure around it.
Shoughs performance stood out because of the circumstances he was dealing with, and Brown gave the Saints a needed spark both in the passing game and on special teams. Still, the result put one offensive issue back in the spotlight, because even with those bright spots, New Orleans never fully solved the problem that has been dragging its attack down and leaving little margin for a defense that did enough to win. [Read more 🡒]
Saints Have One Dominant Strength And Two Frustrating Problems
The Saints still have one part of the roster that looks more than ready for a bigger stage: the pass rush. Chase Young and Carl Granderson were disruptive again against the Steelers, combining for three sacks and continuing to give New Orleans a front-line edge that has been a consistent bright spot. Even with Granderson having missed a game, the pair has piled up pressure at a rate few teams can match, giving the defense a foundation to lean on week after week.
Offensively, the picture is much less encouraging. The run game never got going against Pittsburgh, and the Saints also struggled to cash in on long possessions that should have produced points. When a team can string together extended drives but still come away empty too often, it leaves little margin for error, especially if the rushing attack is stuck near the bottom of the league in efficiency. That imbalance is what makes New Orleans such a frustrating watch right now, because the defense is doing its part while the offense keeps leaving chances on the table. [Read more 🡒]