"TYLER SHOUGH: SAINTS' ROOKIE QB TAKES FIRST-TEAM SNAPS IN CALIFORNIA – A GLIMPSE INTO THE FUTURE?"

IRVINE, Calif. — The first practice of the New Orleans Saints’ West Coast swing took less than 90 minutes to complete as the team engaged in mostly situational and special teams work.

Rookie quarterback Tyler Shough handled the lion’s share of the first-team snaps before the team split its work onto separate fields — a tactic head coach Kellen Moore has been using to steal some additional practice snaps in the allotted time.

While Shough’s day wasn’t especially notable for his statistical line, the rookie continued to show progress while operating against the Saints’ No. 1 defense. Spencer Rattler also enjoyed a solid showing, while Jake Haener’s work was limited as he spent the entire day working with the backups.

Here is how it shook out statistically:

• Shough: 8-15 (72-120 overall)
• Rattler: 8-11 (80-118)
• Haener: 4-5 (68-97)

New Orleans leaned into some of Shough’s better traits in Thursday’s practice. He had a couple opportunities to use his athleticism, either via a play-action bootleg or a read option, and he also drilled several out-breaking throws toward the sideline. His best pass of the day came during the second period, when he hit veteran Brandin Cooks in stride with a laser toward the far pylon for a touchdown.

Shough also has started to show a little more aggressiveness as a thrower, which contributed to his lower completion percentage in Thursday’s session. He gave Chris Olave two good chances at making a contested catch in the end zone during a red zone period, though both were ultimately knocked away by defensive backs Kool-Aid McKinstry and Alontae Taylor in tight coverage. Overall, Shough had three of his seven incompletions broken up by defenders.

It is worth pointing out that Shough hasn’t quite found his connection yet with Olave, the Saints’ No. 1 receiver. Shough threw Olave’s way four times in Thursday’s practice, and all of them fell incomplete — including one deep ball that he overthrew. Five of Shough’s eight completions went either to tight ends or running backs Thursday.

Rattler, meanwhile, had an efficient day. He has continued to show both a willingness and ability to use his legs to his advantage, though it’s hard to truly discern how effective he is while wearing a red non-contact jersey. It’s also worth pointing out that Olave’s lone catch in Thursday’s practice was a red zone touchdown from Rattler.

Given the opportunity to run the first-team offense when the team split fields, Rattler threw touchdowns to Kendre Miller on a rollout to his right and also hit Olave for a score on a slant from the left side.

The only real drawback to his performance in Thursday’s practice — and this is nit-picky — was a tight-window throw he tried to squeeze into Clyde Edwards-Helaire near the goal line. The ball was tipped and nearly caught by tight end Mason Pline, but several defenders were in the area.

Haener has seen his workload dip significantly in recent practices, and he did not get any opportunities after the Saints split the practice into two fields.

New Orleans will follow Thursday’s lighter practice with a scrimmage Friday evening on UC-Irvine’s campus, continuing Moore’s trend of ramping up toward heavy competitive periods.