Brees has a lot of good to say about Thomas; other OTA takeaways

quote:

---

Observations

Harris show: It was another solid practice for wide receiver R.J. Harris. His standout moment came when he caught a pass down the sideline with one hand over a defender. But he stood out several other times, winning both on deep passes and in traffic.

Other Harris: Erik Harris had a nice pass break up on a ball to Coby Fleener.

Kicker comp: Kia Forbath connected on field goals from 34, 39, 45 and 52 yards. Connor Barth appeared to miss from 45 and 52 yards.

Rankins flashes: The first round pick had a pair of nice interior rushes. One of them would have resulted in a sack. The other, at worst, was a solid pressure. One of those came with Nick Fairley also playing inside on a third-down rep.

Injuries, absences on the line: With Armstead and Strief out, Andrus Peat got reps at left tackle. Tyrus Thompson received reps with the first unit at right tackle. Senio Kelemete and Tim Lelito worked as the guards. Peat was said to be among a handful of players battling the flu.

Linebacker reps: Craig Robertson worked in the middle and Nate Stupar was on the weakside. Stupar had a very nice blitz.

More flashes: Brandon Coleman had a very nice catch on a vertical route. On the next play, Michael Thomas got behind prevent coverage by beating a corner down the sideline. Fleener made a handful of contested catches.

Grayson solid: Grayson looks much more comfortable than last season. You can see his growth. He made a very nice throw to R.J. Harris late in the practice down the sideline. Both he and Luke McCown were almost picked off at different points, but you can see Grayson’s growth.

Ends: Cam Jordan was back to practice. He worked as the strongside defensive end, with Hau’oli Kikaha playing Jack. Davis Tull received reps behind Kikaha.

---