Tyler Shough ain’t even a month old as a New Orleans Saints QB, and he keeps getting good news now and then. First, it was Derek Carr who gave Shough’s chances to start in his rookie season a massive boost by retiring. Of course, before his retirement, it was Carr’s shoulder injury that made Shough the presumed week 1 starter for the Saints. And upon Carr’s retirement, it changed from a presumption to a possible spoiler alert. Now, as we are just 3 months away from the regular season, Shough’s position as the Saints’ No.1 starter may have just been cemented.

See, ever since Carr retired, the Saints could have easily gone down a veteran route. Instead, they chose to ride into the season with four quarterbacks who had combined for zero wins in their careers. Other than Shough, who is just getting started. The Saints already had their 2024 fifth-round pick, Spencer Rattler, and 2023 fourth-round pick, Jake Haener. Earlier this month, they also added undrafted rookie Hunter Dekkers. But for the last couple of weeks, it was still a three-way competition involving Shough, Haener and Rattler to land the Saints’ starting QB role.

Now it’s going to be two-way as Haener has just been announced injury-stricken. ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported, “Saints QB Jake Haener, part of a three-way competition to become the team’s starting quarterback, suffered an oblique strain at the end of Wednesday’s practice and now is expected to miss “a couple of weeks”, per league sources.” Schefter further added that Haener is projected to miss the rest of the OTAs because of his oblique injury.

But thankfully, it would be too long before he returns healthy with some given precautions. Here’s where an NFL doctor comes in to give his analysis on Haener’s injury. Let’s just say his injury report on Haener paints a positive and negative outlook. In his post on X, Jesse Morse pointed out 3 levels of oblique strain.

• Grade 1 – mild
• Grade 2 – moderate (partial tear)
• Grade 3 – severe (torn off bone)

Given that an MRI revealed that Haener’s oblique strain doesn’t have any tear, and he won’t need any surgery. It means his injury falls in grade 1. So Morse stated, “Traditionally, these are treated with physical therapy, at least for the mild to moderate strains.” This obviously is a bit of good news for the Saints. However, that’s where things get interesting. Considering how short the Saints are at QB position, god forbid they don’t rush Haener back. If they do, Haener’s injury could spiral out of control.

Morse pointed out a major concern related to oblique injuries. “These are notorious for reinjury, so returning too quickly usually leads to extended absences.” However, the good news is that if the Saints don’t go on that route, Haener could be back within 8-10 weeks, as per Morse. This means Haener could be back either late July or early August if things go in the Saints’ favor. And if it doesn’t, then obviously they have Tyler Shough waiting in the wings.

Tyler Shough’s dream opportunity is set to become a reality

For 7 years, Shough has navigated through multiple college programs just to prove himself worthy of an NFL chance. His stints at Oregon Ducks and Texas Tech didn’t pan out the way Shough had hoped. He made one final attempt to keep his NFL dream alive by transferring to Louisville. And boy, did it turn out to be the best decision of his career. As Shough threw for 3,195 passing yards, 23 TDs and just 6 interceptions. It was a breakout year for Louisville that prompted Shough to take a chance and enter the NFL draft.

Now he has found himself in New Orleans, hoping he gets another opportunity to prove he is NFL-ready. “That’s all you can ask for is an opportunity, at any position. And I’m going to treat it the same way, as if whoever is on the roster. I’ve got to continue to grow and get better and do my best to elevate the QB room and the team,” Shough said. Given the current status of the Saints’ QB room, now it all boils down to Shough.

Even if Haener manages to return, we can all be honest that it will probably be Shough who starts. And once he does get cleated up, the pressure will be on Shough to deliver upon the big opportunity he had always dreamt of in his career.