METAIRIE, La. — The New Orleans Saints had an unusual way of preparing rookie quarterback Spencer Rattler for Monday night’s game against the Green Bay Packers in Wisconsin, where temperatures of 30 degrees or less and Potential snow is expected at Lambeau Field.
Quarterbacks coach Andrew Janocko took Rattler and the rest of the Saints quarterbacks into the freezer in the team cafeteria Saturday to go over the plays.
“This morning, Janocko took us into the freezer in the cafeteria, where it was like 10 degrees, and we’re going through the whole scenario in there, and so just doing that, it helped a lot,” Rattler said. “So hopefully it’s not 10 degrees, but we’ll be ready.”
Janocko joked that he got the idea after watching “Cool Runnings.” In the film, a character sits in an ice cream truck to prepare for the conditions he will face as an Olympic bobsledder.
But Janocko also said he has plenty of ideas for preparing for the cold after coaching in the NFC North from 2015-2023.
“I think there’s something we said about just being prepared [the cold]so you’re not shocked and it’s not something surprising,” he said. “It’s something you deal with as far as you prepare for the opponent and for the venue . So I just thought it was good to do something a little different. This time of year, it’s fun to do different things. It’s a long season and sometimes something other than sitting in meetings day after day, doing something different, a change of scenery. The guys thought it was hilarious. The cafeteria workers think I’m crazy.”
Rattler will start his first game at Lambeau in place of injured Derek Carr (hand), who was ruled out Saturday. Alvin Kamara (groin) was also ruled out. Both players missed practice all week.
Rattler started the second half of last weekend’s 20-19 loss to the Washington Commanders after the Saints benched Jake Haener after one half.
This will be Rattler’s fourth start this season. The rookie started three games earlier this year when Carr was out with an oblique strain.
Carr had not progressed enough in his rehabilitation this week to return to practice, interim coach Darren Rizzi said. Earlier in the week, Rizzi also suggested Kamara would be doubtful about playing after tests showed his groin injury was worse than initially expected.
“The last two days have definitely been encouraging,” Rizzi said. “[Carr] starting to get some of the grip strength back and all that. I just felt like talking with him and the medical staff that we were definitely getting closer, but given where he is right now, I just didn’t feel like he had enough time to dedicate to his task and perform wherever he wanted. wanted to play. I feel better about the current situation, but it has improved.”
Receiver Chris Olave practiced limitedly this week after returning from a long stint on injured reserve after suffering two concussions, but he is not ready to play a game.
“He’s done nothing but smile the last few days and it’s just a great story,” Rizzi said. “…A guy who didn’t really know where he was going to be six or seven weeks ago, what was going to happen to him, his career. Just moving forward to see him come back, smile, see him running around, laughing with the guy in the locker room. It all warms my heart because there was a question there… about what was going to happen… He moves like the Chris Olave that I know, so that’s positive.”
