Are Justin Herbert and Tyler Shough playing today in Chargers vs Saints preseason game?

SoFi Stadium will bring an NFL preseason showdown as the Los Angeles Chargers host the New Orleans Saints. These two teams couldn’t be further from each other in terms of their projects but still, in preseason anything can happen. Justin Herbert is an elite quarterback, so he is not forced to play, but will he? On the other side, Tyler Shough is one of three names battling to earn a starting spot in the Big Easy, but is he playing?

Let’s start with Herbert. This will be the Chargers second preseason game as they played on the Hall of Fame game versus the Lions. In that game, it was Trey Lance the one under center. For this game, NFL.com reports that Herbert won’t play, but Lance won’t start either. It’s the turn of Taylor Heinicke.

Jim Harbaugh won’t risk one of the best NFL quarterbacks in a meaningless preseason game, but will give Heinicke the spotlight as he fights to be the second QB on the depth chart. After all, Lance impressed everybody in the Hall of Fame game. He threw for 120 yards, two touchdowns and completed 13/20 passes. Lance had a 114.6 rating in a 34-7 win.

Saints are on a whole other page

While everybody knows who the Chargers QB1 is, no one knows who the Saints starting quarterback will be for the upcoming season. There is a battle between Tyler Shough, Spencer Rattler and Jake Haener.

Tyler Shough #QB14 of Louisville participates in a drill during the NFL Scouting Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium on March 01, 2025 in Indianapolis, Indiana.

According to Saints head coach Kellen Moore, “We’ll start Spencer in the game, and then from there we’ll go Tyler, and then Jake.” It seems that, at least for now, is Rattler’s job to lose.

see also

NFL News: Chargers sign former Patriots WR to add depth to QB Justin Herbert’s offense

The QB battle is still open

Rattler has impressed the most in the Saints training camp so this is what gave him the chance to start this game. As Moore said, “He’s earned his way as he’s gone through this.” Moore also added, “It will be a great evaluation piece for us. By no means is it any bigger than the collection of all these practices that have occurred.”

The Saints depth chart lists Rattler, Shough and Haeners as co-starters. Plus, Moore said plenty of the starters won’t play, so no QB will play with the first-string offense.