Saint Quarterbacks Insist They Put Team’s Needs First

Jeff Blake and Aaron Brooks are jogging toward opposite ends of the New Orleans Saints practice field, sweat soaking their shirts, looks of intense concentration on their faces. As they pass, each raises a hand and slaps a high five on the run.

It’s a quick sign of solidarity between two players battling for the same job.

“Everyone knows we’re competitors, but we definitely don’t need to be going at each other’s throats,” Brooks said. “It’s out of our hands. We can only do what we can do on the field and stay a team and look out for one another.”

Blake and Brooks are intent on taking the starting job, but insist they won’t put that before the team.

“We’re tired of everybody trying to paint us as individuals,” Blake said. “We’re two guys on a mission, and that’s to win football games. Whoever is the starter--Aaron or me--we have to make sure everybody is ready to play.”

Blake is again fighting for the starting job, even though it looked like he had won that battle last year. After years of repeated benchings and constant criticism in Cincinnati, winning the spot could put the bitterness behind him.

The Saints signed Blake to a $17.4 million contract and named him the starting quarterback at the same time. He paid the team back by leading New Orleans to a 7-3 record while posting a career-best 82.7 quarterback rating.

Early in game 11, Blake shattered his foot, and Brooks took over. Brooks, who had never thrown a pass in a regular season NFL game, threw for nine touchdowns and over 1,500 yards in the last six games.

He set team records with 441 yards passing against Denver and 108 yards rushing the next week against San Francisco. Under Brooks, the Saints won the first playoff game in franchise history, beating the St. Louis Rams.

“It makes things very interesting this summer, doesn’t it?” Blake said. “Two guys that can start and win. One job. Stay tuned.”

“Somebody will separate himself and be the starting quarterback,” Coach Jim Haslett said. “I told both of them that we are going to need them both sometime during the season. Quarterback is a two-man job in the NFL. So we need two quarterbacks to win, and they both have to be ready to play.”

Brooks got an edge during the offseason when he was able to work during both minicamps and the coaching sessions. Blake, still nursing his injured foot, was limited in what he could do.

Blake showed no sign of the injury when he arrived at training camp, however, and the quarterbacks split reps down the middle. Both threw enough to have sore arms by the end of the first week.