Good, bad, and ugly from Saints' preseason opener against Jacksonville

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Good, bad, and ugly from Saints' preseason opener against Jacksonville

Good, bad, and ugly from Saints' preseason opener against Jacksonville

Bob Rose , Saints Wire · Saints Wire

Sun, Aug 16, 2026 ·

3 min read

The Good: Ty Chandler 's kick return

Chandler took the game's opening kickoff 86 yards, setting up a 9-yard touchdown run from Audric Estime to open the scoring. It was the only big return of the game for the New Orleans returners and the only return opportunity for Chandler. However, it was refreshing to see out of a Saints return game that had been abysmal after trading Rashid Shaheed last season.

The Good: Saints linebackers

f you count the edge rushers as part of the linebacking corps, then it was an outstanding day for this unit. Undrafted rookie edge rusher Michael Heldman was one of the game's stars, recording 2 sacks and 3 stops for loss. Fellow edge Garrett Nelson added a sack and some pressures of his own, with Fadil Diggs also chiming in with a sack. Jaylan Ford had a terrific day at off-ball linebacker, snatching an interception to go along with his 8 first half tackles and moving around the field decisively. Yes, these are backups pushing for a roster spot, but it's hopefully a sign that the Saints have better depth along the edge and at linebacker than previously believed.

The Good: Wide receiver depth

Bub Means was another of the game's stars with 4 receptions on 5 targets for 77 yards. Means reminded people to not overlook him for a roster spot, as he made plays down the field and in the intermediate zones. Rookie Barion Brown carried his strong start to training camp over to the preseason, catching all 4 of his targets for 53 yards. Trey Palmer added 4 catches of his own for 33 yards, while returning veteran Kevin Austin Jr may have stayed in the mix with his 3 receptions. The Saints made a clear effort to get better at receiver this offseason. With Chris Olave , Jordyn Tyson, and Devaughn Vele not playing, New Orleans showed that they still have a few viable targets for their quarterback.

The Bad: Offensive Line

Not surprisingly, none of the five starters saw the field. This was an opportunity for several young players to show that the Saints have some decent depth up front, especially after the loss of versatile veteran Dillon Radunz for the year. They did not answer that challenge. New Orleans quarterbacks were sacked 4 times and too often hurried into throws. As a team, the Saints averaged just 3.5 yards per carry. They were never able to take control of the line of scrimmage, strengthening the belief that New Orleans may need to bring in some offensive line depth before the start of the regular season.

The Ugly: Spencer Rattler

Saying that Rattler was unimpressive would be an understatement. He completed 8 of 11 passes, but for a meager 42 yards with 5.25 yards per completion. Rattler continues to faill pushing the ball down the field at all, while showing poor pocket awareness and the inability to read defenses. By contrast, Zach Wilson had 145 yards with 8 completions in 16 attempts. Wilson hit downfield throws with decent accuracy, while giving the offense a spark that Rattler has very rarely been able to do in his 14 professional starts. Spencer Rattler will have more chances to hold off Zach Wilson for the backup quarterback job. But we continue to see the same inefficiencies from Rattler in this offense with few exceptions.