Hey Drew 👋
Buy Saints Tickets(The @TeamGleason shirt ❤️) pic.twitter.com/Pfl0zpmvhE
— New Orleans Saints (@Saints) August 13, 2023
This is either the start of Jake Haener’s hero’s journey or his villain origin story. The New Orleans Saints rookie quarterback was intercepted early on just his third pass against the Kansas City Chiefs in Sunday’s preseason game, and it happened with his hero Drew Brees in the broadcast booth.
Haener grew up a Saints fan and idolized Brees, modeling his passing mechanics off the future Hall of Famer and wearing the same No. 9 jersey in college at Fresno State. So experiencing a gaffe like this with Brees quite literally looking down at him was tough.
Brees acknowledged that he saw what Haener did on the play — trying to hit the flanker James Washington on a back-shoulder throw down the sideline. But Haener’s pass was low enough to where rookie Chiefs cornerback Kahlef Hailassie could get airborne and intercept it.
“We need some more awareness from the receiver there,” Brees chuckled.
Look, these things happen in the preseason. Testing things throws that you don’t get opportunities for in practice is part of the process. Sometimes those passes get picked off. Haener came back to the same throw on the following drive, and this time Bryan Edwards caught it after working back to the football, only for a penalty flag to fall in his wake.
“I know on the broadcast you’re not supposed to speculate, but I’m gonna speculate. The defender tugged him,” Brees observed, which the referee confirmed as a defensive pass interference foul on cornerback Dicaprio Bootle. The preseason is just as much about evaluating these plays and seeing how players respond to adversity as it is trying to win the game. If the coaches come away feeling like they have a better understanding of Haener’s strengths and weaknesses, they’ll see it as a win.
