The New Orleans Saints are reportedly making a quarterback change this week, as Taysom Hill will replace Trevor Siemian under center against the Dallas Cowboys, per ESPN's Mike Triplett. Hill was listed on the Saints injury report with a foot injury, but was a full participant all week and does not have an injury designation for New Orleans' Thursday night matchup versus Dallas.
Saints head coach Sean Payton wasn't quick to pull the trigger on Hill, however, as he wanted to see how healthy his Swiss Army knife looked in practice.
"We'll see," Payton said Tuesday, via Katherine Terrell of The Athletic. "We want to see how Taysom is doing tomorrow. "Obviously we're trying to get him back off this foot. It'll be either he or Trevor.
"Last week when that topic was brought up, I just knew it wouldn't be right to put him back there with the shape his foot was in at the time. It's gotten better. I'm going to see how tomorrow goes. We've got a lot of time before we play."
Hill said Tuesday he's been dealing with a partial tear of the plantar fascia, which resulted in him being active but a nonparticipant in the last two games. The Saints quarterback said he "felt pretty good" this week and that the last couple days have been "really encouraging."
The Saints have reportedly been giving Hill the first-team quarterback reps in practice this week, so Payton was preparing him to start Thursday if he's good to go.
"I think so," Hill said when asked if he'll be ready to play Thursday. "That's kind of the question mark. It's hard to simulate a game in practice. The last couple weeks I would have been limited if I had to go in and play."
In seven games this season, Hill has completed 7 of 8 passes for 56 yards with an interception. He also has 20 carries for 104 yards and three touchdowns to go along with four catches for 52 yards.
Siemian has struggled the past two games, completing 56.5% of his passes for 377 yards with four touchdowns and three interceptions (73.2 rating). In his four starts, Siemian has completed 57.6% of his passes for 924 yards with eight touchdowns to three interceptions (86.7 rating).
Hill's injury has complicated things in New Orleans, but the Saints seem ready to go back to him if he's near 100%.