METAIRIE, LA. – The Saints were down to one quarterback after Taysom Hill and Trevor Siemian found out they both had COVID-19. Sean Payton brought in 29-year-old Blake Bortles, who will serve as rookie Ian Books back up.
“Well, we’re familiar with the player, he was up this year for Green Bay when they had an injury to Aaron (Rodgers), last year with the Rams in the same way. So he’s had experience in different offenses. He was out here practicing today. We’ll get him up to speed and figure out the things that he’s most comfortable with in the event he has to play,” said Saints head coach Sean Payton.
“When I get to the sideline I’ll be getting with RC (Ronald Curry), Pete (Carmichael), and Blake (Bortles) now. Shoot, Blake’s played for a long time. He’s got a lot of starts under his belt and I want to hear from him as well. But at the end of the day, I know what I have to do. It is obviously the NFL and I haven’t started or played yet, but I know what I have to do as a quarterback to win this game,” said Saints rookie quarterback Ian Book.
Bortles, a 6’5 seven-year NFL veteran, has spent most of his career with the Jacksonville Jaguars, and recently with the Green Bay Packers.