After Further Review: Five takes from Saints practice #2

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Take One: Attendance Report

One day after opening training camp with perfect attendance, the Saints had one significant absence in practice two. Left tackle Trevor Penning missed the workout with a foot injury. Dennis Allen called it minor and that it didn’t involve the same foot he injured last season. Penning is now day-to-day. That’s certainly positive news, but hopefully Penning returns soon so he can focus on getting better not getting healthy. He has a chance to win the left tackle spot, but it won’t happen if he’s consistently unavailable.
The July heat wreaked havoc on a few other players. Khalen Saunders exited early with an illness, while Keith Kirkwood and Shaq Davis left early with heat related issues as well.

Take Two: Competition Rotation

The Saints rotated players with the first team at key position competitions. James Hurst received first team reps at left tackle with Penning absent. At cornerback, it was Alontae Taylor’s turn to run with the one’s. At defensive end, Payton Turner received the first team reps. At kicker and punter, Blake Grupe and Lou Hedley took all the reps.

Take Three: Defense wins the day

Overall, it was the defense’s day to shine.

During 7-on-7, Andrew Dowell, stripped Kendre Miller of the ball and recovered the fumble. That’s the second straight day he’s done that. For a team emphasizing takeaways, Dowell’s consistent ability to create them has stood out.

During the first team session, Taylor had blanket coverage over Chris Olave on a deep ball from Derek Carr. Later in the same session, Rashid Shaheed beat Troy Pride in coverage, but Jameis Winston’s pass was slightly underthrown which allowed Pride to knock the ball away.
During the second team period, Carr threw a beauty to Michael Thomas on a slot fade, but as Thomas went to bring the ball in, Marshon Lattimore jarred it loose at the last second. First round pick Bryan Bresee disrupted a Miller run during this period with what would have been a tackle for loss.

On the final play of that same period, it appeared Smoke Monday was able to swipe the ball out of Jake Haener’s hand as he was about to throw it.

Take Four: Offensive hits & misses

The offense wasn’t terrible on Thursday, but they did have more misses than hits.

During 7-on-7, Olave couldn’t bring in a dig from Carr. He had Lattimore beat in coverage. On the very next play, Carr threw a nice pass to Jimmy Graham on a corner route, but Graham wasn’t able to reel the ball in.

On a positive note, Carr’s best connection to Shaheed on a bootleg. Carr found him on a comeback route on the sideline. Shaheed finished with three receptions on the day.

Jamaal Williams had a good run to open the first team period. Alvin Kamara had a nice run after catch on a reception from Carr in the flat. He made a great move on Zack Baun.

One of the top offensive plays of the day came when Winston found Foster Moreau on what looked like a slot fade or seam route for a big gain.

Take Five: Other Observations

- The team worked for 1:45 Thursday and added a 7-on-7 period to the two team periods.

- Grupe hit all of his field goal attempts, while Hedley boomed a couple punts inside the ten-yard line. Hedley was a little inconsistent, but he has a live leg.

- The Saints go public for practice three Friday as the fans will be in attendance. The team should work for two hours in shells.