Saints stick with QB Dalton after mulling change

The New Orleans Saints are sticking with quarterback Andy Dalton, according to coach Dennis Allen.

“We’re going to go with Andy. We discussed it as a staff. I got an opportunity to talk to both quarterbacks, and I feel like right now, Andy is the direction that we want to go,” Allen said Wednesday.

Allen hinted earlier in the week that Dalton’s job might not be safe after the offense averaged under 215 passing yards and 11.5 points in losses to the Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers.

He said on Monday that Jameis Winston could be a candidate to start against the Los Angeles Rams this weekend but said he had not made the decision at that point.

Dalton has started the past seven games for the Saints after Winston struggled to play through various back and foot injuries at the beginning of the season.

Allen said that Winston is still not 100% healthy and possibly won’t be back at 100% before the season ends. The Saints also have a heavily compromised offensive line, with center Erik McCoy on injured reserve, guard Andrus Peat injured and left tackle James Hurst in the concussion protocol.

All of those things likely were potential factors in the decision this week.

“We’re not going to belabor this point, but yet, a lot of the factors just went into how we’re playing and how we’re operating, obviously,” Allen said. “And it’s not good enough, but part of the factor is, there’s a lot of elements in this team that have to improve, and there’s a lot of other areas that we have to work on to help in that regard, so we’ll play better as a team. You kind of want to look at one spot, but there’s a lot of positions that have to play better, and that’s where we’re starting.”

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