Five takes from Saints practice #1

LINK

Knock on wood as you read this, but the Saints look as healthy as they’ve ever looked to open training camp. All 90 players were present and accounted for. Only defensive back Anthony Johnson Jr, who officially passed his physical, was limited. Cesar Ruiz, Trevor Penning, Michael Thomas, Kendre Miller, A.T. Perry and Nick Saldiveri were all back to work on the team’s first day of action.
Given the Saints injury history over the last few seasons, it’s good to see some positive news on the health front. The Saints know this won’t last forever; at some point injuries will hit this team. When they do, the hope is they’ll be able to manage it enough to still win games.

Take Two: Carr connects with Michael Thomas

In the grand scheme of things, it was just a simple out route, but it felt like a good first step in the developing chemistry between Derek Carr and Michael Thomas. Carr found Thomas on a short pass, and Thomas was able to run after the catch to get a first down.

Carr even said afterward, that after they connected, it was good for everyone see that and they could take a deep breath and just work. It had been so long since we’ve seen Thomas on the field with no restrictions during a practice. Now that he’s back, the focus can be solely on Thomas and Carr getting on the same page.

Take Three: Checking in on position competitions

Left tackle

Trevor Penning and James Hurst split reps with the first team at left tackle. During the first period, when Penning was in at left tackle, Hurst was at left guard. In the second team period, Penning did the first two reps, while Hurst did the next two.

Cornerback 2

In what will be one of the most-watched competitions of camp, Paulson Adebo opened training with the first team at outside cornerback opposite Marshon Lattimore. Adebo got his hands on a pass from Derek Carr. Alontae Taylor ran with the second team. It will be interesting to see if the team chooses to rotate those players with each practice.

Kicker

Wil Lutz will have to work to keep his job as Saints kicker. He’s in a competition with Blake Grupe. He got off to a good start today. Lutz took all the reps and connected on all of his field goal attempts.
Defensive End

Carl Granderson opened up camp with the first team at defensive end opposite Cam Jordan.

Take Four: Top Plays

Offense

Later in that first team period, Carr, who went 4/5 on the day, connected with Chris Olave on a deep out/sail route for a big gain. In the second team period, Carr hit Thomas on the quick out, Jamaal Williams on a short curl and Alvin Kamara on a screen.

Jameis Winston went 5/6 on the day. He had a nice completion to Taysom Hill on a deep out, and hit Rashid Shaheed on a slant where he beat Bradley Roby inside.

Rookie Jake Haener went 5/5 at practice. He hit Hill on an underneath/drag type route for a nice gain in the first team period. In the second, he found tight end Lukas Krull on a sail route.

Defense

On that Adebo PBU described above, it appeared defensive tackle Khalen Saunders batted Carr’s pass at the line of scrimmage.

First-round pick Bryan Bresee rotated with the first team at practice, and had a nice stop of Williams on a draw at the line of scrimmage.

In the first team period, Payton Turner had a tackle for loss on a run. He also helped blow up a screen from Winston.

Linebacker Andrew Dowell made a great play on a Juwan Johnson catch, when he stripped him of the ball and recovered the fumble.

Take Five: Other Observations

- It was good to see No. 80 back out there in Black and Gold. Jimmy Graham appeared to be enjoying himself in his first practice back with the team that drafted him. I’m incredibly intrigued to see what he has left in the tank for this season.

- Shaheed, Keke Coutee and Lynn Bowden worked as returners.

- On the final Lutz’s field goal attempt, they ran a fake, and Blake Gillikin threw a completion to Foster Moreau.

- When the team closed out practice with gassers, Dennis Allen said Marshon Lattimore challenged him to run; so he did. Allen said he even beat a few of the players, but Lattimore was not one of them.

- The team only practiced for 90 minutes on Wednesday in just jerseys and shorts. It’s part of the league’s ramp-up period. Allen said the Saints will go 1:45 on Thursday.


Pretty good Pete Werner interview in the link.