4 things we want to see from the Saints in Week 2 of preseason

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The New Orleans Saints and Los Angeles Chargers are poised to help wrap up the second week of the NFL preseason on Sunday, with a nationally-broadcast game on CBS ahead of them. The Saints lost their first preseason game against the Minnesota Vikings, showing some big weaknesses that need to be addressed. Here’s what we’re hoping to see in their second exhibition appearance.

1. Improved defense against the run
The Saints were gashed early and often by the Vikings a week ago, with Minnesota taking advantage of an aggressive New Orleans front seven that overran their run fits and failed to plug their assigned gaps. It’s just preseason and teams aren’t planning for specific opponents yet, so it’s basically a contest of which squad has better (and more disciplined) athletes. The Saints came up short in that area last time and it has to have been a point of emphasis during practice. Marcus Davenport made his preseason debut last year against the Chargers and impressed in run defense. Maybe he’ll do so again this time.

2. A few targets for Jared Cook
This year’s big free agent acquisition has been a daily highlight in practice, but he played just a handful of reps in the preseason opener and wasn’t targeted. It’s time we see what Cook can do in something like a real, live-action situation. Even if it’s just two or three passes sent his way on the opening drive before his curtain call, it would be nice to see just how effective Cook’s size and speed are against one of the league’s more-athletic defensive secondaries. He’s shown plenty in practice. Now let’s see it against some opponents who are trying to chase him down with full clearance to make contact.

3. Less snaps for Terron Armstead
There’s not much to gain for playing Armstead in the preseason, and the Saints were burned for it in their first appearance when a Vikings defender lost his footing and rolled up on Armstead’s ankle. To his credit, Armstead gutted through the painful collision and stayed in the game with the first-team offense, but it cost him a few days of training camp and he was only lightly active against the Chargers in two days of joint practices. The Saints should keep him on the sideline (maybe in bubble wrap) and see what they have in backups Marshall Newhouse and Michael Ola.

4. More deep shots for Teddy Bridgewater
With the exception of one beautiful 32-yard pass to wide receiver Cyril Grayson Jr., Bridgewater largely kept his targets within the short- and intermediary-ranges of the field — and that was largely by design. The Saints clearly wanted to evaluate certain players’ skills in that area; for example, running back Latavius Murray played just eight snaps, and was thrown to three times in the flat. It would be encouraging to see them dial up more vertical shots for Bridgewater, whose performance in practice on those big-time throws has been inconclusive.