Barion Brown has become one of the clearest bright spots in New Orleans Saints preseason practices, with backup Spencer Rattler connecting with the rookie on several highlight-worthy plays. That chemistry has stood out even as Tyler Shough remains the unquestioned starter and the offense keeps searching for cleaner work near the goal line.
Brown’s growing connection with Rattler matters because the Saints have been looking for answers in the same part of the field where the team struggled last season. New Orleans scored touchdowns on just 44 percent of its red-zone drives and finished with only eight touchdowns on plays run from or inside the 10-yard line, a record that makes every practice rep in tight space feel more important now than it would in a typical camp.
Shough’s camp has been uneven from the start. He has had too many incompletions and sacks, especially in the red zone, and on Thursday he threw two interceptions in the end zone. On the first, he held the ball too long and forced it into coverage, where Julian Blackmon came away with the interception. On another snap, from first-and-goal from the five-yard line, the pass was tipped by Kool-Aid McKinstry to himself at the back of the end zone.
Kellen Moore had already warned on Wednesday that there would be plays Shough would want back and that he would test himself and make some mistakes. The warning fit the week. After a generally positive stretch to end the week, the offense took a step backward on Sunday, and Ross Jackson described it as being “stymied … at seemingly every turn.” That was the kind of practice that can make a promising sequence from one quarterback and a rookie receiver feel even more revealing.
The friction for the Saints is simple: Shough is still the starter entering camp, but Rattler has been the most consistent quarterback. That leaves Brown in the middle of a useful camp storyline. If the rookie keeps turning those practice connections into reliable work, the Saints may have more than a few highlight clips to evaluate when the games start.
