Dennis Allen explains why the Saints are starting rookie quarterback Spencer Rattler

After the preseason concluded, New Orleans Saints coach Dennis Allen said the competition between Jake Haener and Spencer Rattler wasn’t over. Their performances would be monitored week-to-week, he said, even when the Saints chose to go with Haener as the backup quarterback on game days.

On Wednesday, when the time came for Allen to choose who would replace an injured Derek Carr for Sunday’s game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Saints went with Rattler.

“We just internally talked a lot about it,” Allen said, “and felt like in this particular game that he was going to give us the best chance to win.”

By choosing Rattler, the Saints are rolling with a quarterback who they selected 150th overall in April in the fifth round of the NFL draft. He arrived to the Saints after a decorated college career with stints at Oklahoma and South Carolina.

Carr suffered an oblique strain in Monday’s loss to the Kansas City Chiefs and is considered “week to week,” Allen said.

Though Allen said Carr is not a candidate for injured reserve, which would cost the veteran a minimum of four games, the 33-year-old is also unlikely to play next week on “Thursday Night Football” against the Denver Broncos.

Allen, though, guaranteed only that Rattler would start against the Buccaneers. He told reporters that the situation would be re-evaluated for Denver.