Of course, Spencer Rattler gained experience from starting his first three NFL games against Tampa Bay, Denver and the Chargers, with starter Derek Carr sidelined by an oblique injury.
But the rookie quarterback, who'll make his fourth start for the Saints when New Orleans (5-9) faces Green Bay (10-4) on Monday night at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wis., also gained a ton of wisdom when he went back to the bench and watched the 11-year veteran start the next five games.
"Your first time out there, obviously with everything we had going on – different coach, lot of injuries, lot of missing pieces – that was a big part of it," Rattler said. "Having guys back makes it a lot better, and then I think just getting to sit back and watch how it's supposed to be done.
"I thought D.C. (Carr) has been playing really well – great vet in our league, great vet for us, so being able to learn under him, pick his brain, watch how he plays, go through his reads, talks in the huddle, gets in and out – it's been great. But just getting out there again was good."
It was very, very good for the Saints' offense when Rattler re-entered a game, in the second half against Washington last Sunday. New Orleans scored on all four second-half possessions in the 20-19 loss, and fell short of winning when Rattler threw a touchdown with no time remaining in regulation, but his two-point conversion pass attempt fell incomplete.
Rattler completed 10 of 21 passes for 135 yards and touchdown, wasn't sacked and displayed a level of poise that wasn't present during his first stint behind center.
"I think especially for a rookie, there's some overthinking involved, or a guy that hasn't had a lot of starts," Saints interim head coach Darren Rizzi said. "Sometimes when you come off the bench, 'Hey, you've got to go.' You don't get that chance to maybe overthink all the different things and the scenarios and all that.
"When you're the starter, sometimes you may go into a game and you're thinking of first- and second-down plan, third-down plan, the two-minute plan, the red-zone plan – all of a sudden it kind of piles up on you. I think for young, inexperienced quarterbacks that can kind of pile up a little bit.
"I think our coaching staff has done a great job with that this week preparing him. Hopefully that translates to Monday night."
Rattler, who was sacked 14 times in the previous three starts, seems to believe it will.
"You can't overthink it," he said. "The pocket rarely is super clean, so being able to throw from any base, any pocket, I think gives you an advantage.
"I think you see the great quarterbacks in this league make throws from anywhere in the pocket – if they've got a good base, if something's off script, off schedule, you've got to make that play and give your guy a chance.
"I think that's one thing I did this last game – I wanted to give my receivers, give my tight ends, more chances. If they're one-on-one I trust these guys to go make that play. Don't be too safe, let's go make some plays, have some explosives and that gets the momentum and juice going for the offense."
It'll help that he'll have the Saints' starting offensive line – left tackle Taliese Fuaga, left guard Nick Patrick, center Erik McCoy, right guard Cesar Ruiz and right tackle Trevor Penning – intact. Only Fuaga and Penning started each of his first three games.
"Going in a lot earlier than expected – going from the 3 (quarterback) to the 1 on a couple days' notice – that's a big shellshock," Rattler said. "But I thought we did well in certain parts throughout that but we were so banged up, had a lot of missing pieces and it's good to have guys back. It's good to see those faces in the huddle."
He'll have the chance to work with them, and from a level of wisdom gained from playing and watching that taught him he doesn't need to be a superman.
"No pressure," Rattler said. "I've just got to go out there and play my style of ball, do my 1/11th. Everybody's got to do their 1/11th, do their part and if we do that the result is usually pretty good.
"This is my first year, fourth start. I'm not looking to be a savior but I want to go out there and play clean ball, play efficient, play at a high level to a standard that I hold myself to."
