Taysom Hill won’t be Saints’ starting QB this week. Instead, it’s Trevor Siemian

Taysom Hill is staying in his utility role for now. 

The former BYU quarterback won’t start for the New Orleans Saints one week after Jameis Winston tore his ACL and was lost for the season — instead, it will be Trevor Siemian. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported the news Friday morning, and Saints coach Sean Payton confirmed it in the afternoon.

The Saints host NFC South divisional rival Atlanta this Sunday at the Superdome. 

“Trevor played well last week,” Payton told reporters. “We’ll see each week. We’ve got a good plan we feel like this week relative to this plan. And we’ll kind of go from there.”

Hill lost a QB battle with Winston during training camp to replace future Hall of Fame quarterback Drew Brees, and had continued to play a variety of positions for New Orleans on offense and special teams in the early part of the year, like he had in previous seasons. 

The NFL journeyman Siemian, meanwhile, came in to relieve Winston last week after Winston was injured and completed 16 of 29 passes for 159 yards and a touchdown, leading the Saints to a 36-27 win over the defending Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

“I’ve had a lot of confidence in myself to play, and when it happened — I didn’t know if it was going to happen or when it was going to happen, but I knew I’d be ready,” Siemian told reporters. “And here we are. I expect to play well, just like everybody else on this team.”

Siemian has more starting experience than Hill — 25 career starts in seven seasons, while Hill, who wasn’t available the past two games as he waited to clear the NFL’s concussion protocols, started four games last year in relief of Brees.

Hill was a full participant at practice on Thursday for the first time since suffering the concussion on Oct. 10 in a game against Washington. Payton said Hill will play this week.