Against the Falcons, with Drew Brees watching, Tyler Shough will make his first home start

Tyler Shough doesn’t live in a bubble — he knows football means and feels like something different with the Atlanta Falcons coming to town this weekend.

And because Shough does live in New Orleans, that feeling and meaning would be impossible to ignore anyway.

This story may be apocryphal, but to anybody who has been here for any amount of time, it sounds true. After his breakout 282-yard, two-touchdown performance against the Carolina Panthers on Nov. 9, Shough said the people he saw in and around town greeted him like this: “‘Great job. … but, you know, go beat Atlanta next week. Don’t really care about anything else.’”

And that’s the reality of life in the NFL anyway, isn’t it?

“You’re going to line up on Sunday against the Falcons, and (the past isn’t) going to matter,” offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier said. “What’s going to matter is what you do now.”

Shough represents the latest and maybe greatest hope for a franchise quarterback in New Orleans since the great Drew Brees announced his retirement in March 2021. Saints fans have watched Jameis Winston, Derek Carr, Spencer Rattler and others have moments, but never meet the moment.

And now he’s about to make his first career start in front of those fans, fresh off the heels of one of the best performances by a rookie quarterback in franchise history. And he’s doing it against the rival that people in town take pride in beating as if they were on the team, too. And when he steps onto the field, that franchise icon whose shoes have been too big for many to fill will be watching from the broadcast booth.

It’s all … a lot. But it doesn’t seem to bother the rookie quarterback.

“It feels a little bit different, for sure,” Shough said. “And I think that’s a good thing. I think everyone has rivals. And, you know, you don’t change your process, but you (can) change the emotion of the city. … I think you want to go out there and play harder.”

Shough has started two games, played in four and has so far put together one unquestionably strong performance. The No. 40 overall pick has much more to prove before the words “Franchise Quarterback” can be attached to his name, and that will remain true even if he has another impressive performance against Atlanta this week.

But there are encouraging signs. Start with that most recent game against the Panthers. It was an outing that can’t effectively be translated by the numbers, as good as they were. It was the nuance that inspired optimism — the way Shough navigated danger within the pocket, two hands on the ball, eyes downfield looking for explosive plays.

And yes, it was the way he then connected on those explosives. A 52-yarder on the first drive of the game. A 63-yarder to his star wideout for a touchdown. A 30-yarder later in the game for another touchdown — all of them coming in third-and-long situations where the Saints had wilted for much of the year.

That was what head coach Kellen Moore, a former quarterback himself, loved to see. The play he kept coming back to was that 52-yarder, which converted a third-and-12 on the opening drive. Shough evaded two potential sacks on the play, keeping it alive long enough to find a wide-open Juwan Johnson for a big gain.

“We’re in a challenging situation, and for him to pull through a lot of traffic and step up and make that play … I thought that was a huge play in that game,” Moore said. “Just kind of spin the momentum in that game to create a big play that obviously sparked us.”

That is what’s available for everyone to see. The stuff that happens behind closed doors is also encouraging. The Saints have watched a rookie step into the most visible and important position in sports and not blink.

Shough has pressure on him. From a fanbase eager to see the return of excellent quarterback play, from the media who question him and dissect his play, from his teammates who rely on him to keep them in games and from a front office and coaching staff that must decide if he is someone the Saints can build around.

That can make someone try to be someone they are not. And that is actively what Shough is trying to avoid. He understands the duality of the spot he’s in: He has to earn his place as a rookie, but he also needs to have a voice as the quarterback. He picks his spots to vocalize where things need to be cleaner, but he does it in a way that won’t betray who he is.

“There’s an element that I really believe in, (which) is just being yourself,” Shough said. “You have to authentically be that, and understand what role you’re in. I’m not afraid to say something — within the group, the offense, all that stuff — but I got to continue to build on that. I haven’t really earned the right to (say) something profound.

“… I’m in this role of quarterback, I’ve played some football too, but I haven’t in the NFL. My job is to be consistent, have a lot of juice, have a lot of energy. And when there’s something that needs to be said, I’ll say it.”

And, finally, Shough is seeking ways to learn.

He sought out Brees for some advice before he took over the starting job, and he took an interesting tack for where he wanted to start the conversation. It wasn’t about all the great things Brees did in New Orleans, at least not directly. Shough wanted to know about Brees’ time in San Diego, before he became a superstar with the Saints.

“I talked to him about his mindset through his journey,” Shough said. “… I wanted to hear how he developed into who he was here. And we talked about his just daily routine and process. He had a lot of great things and insight. And it was really cool just to be able to pick his brain.”

Saints quarterbacks coach Scott Tolzien has been in Shough’s shoes before, spending several seasons as a backup NFL quarterback before transitioning into coaching. He was impressed by how Shough handled being the No. 2, legitimately treating every week as if he was in the starting role.

When it came time for Shough to take over for Rattler, Tolzien did not expect the moment to be too big for him because of the way he prepared.

“Now you get to reap the benefits of it, because you have a plan, you have a routine,” Tolzien said.

The final seven games of the season should help determine what New Orleans has in Shough. There is a chance the Carolina game was a one-off, but there is also a chance it was a springboard for the rookie.

And if it is a jump-off point, what better way to follow it up than to win his first home start against the team his neighbors are telling him to beat, with Brees in the house?

Nobody on the team could understand that better than tight end Foster Moreau, a New Orleans native who grew up watching those great Brees offenses.

“It’s awesome,” Moreau said. “It’s awesome, but not to be enjoyed before. We can have all the fun in the world after.”