Saints Final Minicamp Practice Brings Plenty of Big Action To The Table

The Saints wrapped up their three-day minicamp on Thursday with one final practice, which did not disappoint.

The Saints closed out their three-day minicamp on Thursday with another interesting practice that we got to watch. The final one brought more good things from Klint Kubiak's offense as well as some sparks to the table. Here's everything that went down from my notes and observations.

Day 1 Minicamp Recap | Day 2 Minicamp Recap

ATTENDANCE

Thursday's practice saw mostly the same when it comes to attendance, but with one very noticeable absence in Alvin Kamara. Those who were not spotted during the session included Alontae Taylor (oblique), Ryan Ramczyk (knee), Juwan Johnson (foot), Tommy Hudson, Tanoh Kpassagnon (Achilles), Jack Heflin and Chase Young. Johnson will miss some time. Allen said Johnson’s foot was bothering him and said he’s not exactly sure how it happened, but it developed in the offseason. Tryout players Jordan Smith and Russell Gage were also not in attendance. We saw Nephi Sewell out there some with the linebackers today, but he was not in uniform.

THE KAMARA SITUATION: He was at the facility early in the morning and participated in walkthroughs, but was not on the field for practice. Reports have emerged that it's contract related, and Dennis Allen has yet to speak with him and said that it would be unfair to make any statements on things without talking to Kamara when asked if his absence today was excused or not. We'll keep an eye out on this one for sure.

Kool-Aid McKinstry once again participated in stretch and individual drills before working off to the side with Matt Rhea. Faion Hicks and Stanley Morgan Jr. were also working off to the side during practice. Nick Saldiveri left practice early due to a soft tissue injury, but it is not considered to be serious. He was in the locker room following practice.

STARTING LOOKS AND MORE

With Saldiveri leaving early, it did shift a few things with the offensive line. The starting look was (left to right) Taliese Fuaga, Shane Lemieux, Erik McCoy, Cesar Ruiz and Trevor Penning. Lucas Patrick also got reps there as the left guard in team. It's worth pointing out that Lemieux, Patrick and Justin Herron have all worked in a similar system that the Saints are installing, and Oli Udoh was someone Allen pointed out that could contend at the left guard spot. A second pairing of the line was Justin Herron, Nouri Nouili, Sincere Haynesworth, Kyle Hergel and Landon Young.

Defensively, the Saints stuck more with base, but did run some nickel. Their line consisted of Carl Granderson, Khalen Saunders, Nathan Shepherd and Cam Jordan with Willie Gay Jr., Demario Davis and Pete Werner at linebacker. When they went into the slot, Ugo Amadi was there. Paulson Adebo and Marshon Lattimore were on the outside with Tyrann Mathieu and Johnathan Abram at safety.

TEMPERS FLARE

We had our first scuffle/fight of camp, which involved Trajan Jeffcoat and Lucas Patrick. It's not exactly clear on what happened and what sparked it, but it did go on for a little bit with Dennis Allen right there and several players ran onto the field to try to break it up. They were tossed from practice.

QUARTERBACK CAROUSEL

7-on-7 on Thursday saw the Saints working in the red zone. Here's the numbers for each quarterback from today:

• Derek Carr: 12/18, 2 TDs (4/6 in 7s, 6/10 in team)
• Jake Haener: 4/9, TD (3/5 in 7s, 1/4 in team) Spencer Rattler: 3/5, TD (only 7s)
• Nathan Peterman: 2/3, TD (only 7s)

There may be a small dispute in one of the Carr passes that went to Michael Jacobson in 7s. From one vantage point, it looked like it was a score, but others have said that it was short of the goal line. We're going to err on the side of caution and just stick with the two touchdown tosses from Carr.

Final total numbers, which will include all 7s and team work from each quarterback in minicamp were:

• Derek Carr: 35/48, 3 TDs
• Jake Haener: 19/27, TD, INT
• Spencer Rattler: 16/21, TD, INT
• Nathan Peterman: 6/9, TD

CARR DELIVERS AGAIN: The Saints once again worked on an end-of-game sequence that involved them trailing with the clock not being on their side. The scenario was the offense was down 27-21 with 1:16 to play and was at the defense's 45-yard-line. Carr finished 6-of-10 on the drive, and here's the sequencing of everything. The main takeaway is that he got the offense in the end zone with a beautiful hookup to Chris Olave in the back of the end zone with no time left and on 4th Down. Blake Grupe hit the extra point to get the offense the win.

• 1:16 - Complete, curl left short to Cedrick Wilson Jr. (Ugo Amadi)
• 1:00 - Complete, flats left short to Jamaal Williams (Pete Werner)
• 0:54 - Incomplete, curl left short to Foster Moreau (Pete Werner had the PBU)
• 0:50 - Incomplete, comeback left intermediate to Chris Olave (Marshon Lattimore had the PBU and Demario Davis was right there for a possible sack)
• 0:44 - Complete, intermediate middle to Cedrick Wilson Jr. (Tyrann Mathieu/Demario Davis)
• 0:31 - Incomplete, spike
• 0:21 - Darren Rizzi simulated an offensive penalty that resulted in a 10-second runoff and the clock started immediately when the offensive got back to the line.
• 0:19 - Incomplete, middle end zone shot to Mason Tipton (Johnathan Abram)
• 0:13 - Complete, flats left to Jamaal Williams (Marshon Lattimore/Ugo Amadi)
• 0:09 - Complete, sideline left out route to Cedrick Wilson Jr. (Marshon Lattimore/Ugo Amadi)
• 0:04 - Complete, Chris Olave back of the end of zone for a touchdown (Marshon Lattimore). It was a 12-yard score and Nathan Shepherd did have a pressure on the play.

DEFENSE BITES BACK: Jake Haener's drive ended rather quickly after failing to get a first down. His first pass attempt was an intended screen to Jordan Mims that was thrown into the dirt due to it not developing. He then found Mims for an intermediate gain (Shemar Jean-Charles). Haener then tried a pass for Equanimeous St. Brown (Rezjohn Wright), but the throw went into the ground and wasn't close. On the final play, Haener tried Jermaine Jackson over the middle (Shemar Jean-Charles), but D'Marco Jackson made an excellent play on the ball and broke it up with his hand. Khalen Saunders was one of the first players on the field to joyously voice his opinion about it all.

PLAYS OF THE DAY

The Olave play to close out the final team drive for the starters certainly gets an honorable mention here, but there's three plays I want to highlight from 7-on-7 during the red zone work. All of them have a back of the end zone feel to them and are all scoring plays.

• Play 1 - Derek Carr to Dallin Holker. This was the first of several big plays that resulted in a score for the Saints offense. Carr threw a pass to Holker, who was working against Rezjohn Wright. Demario Davis got a hand on the pass that tipped up and Holker made an outstanding job of going up to get the ball and getting his feet down inbounds for the score.
• Play 2 - Jake Haener to Equanimeous St. Brown. Originally, Haener wanted the fade route but settled for finding St. Brown in the back of the end zone working against Marshon Lattimore. Lattimore took away the fade but St. Brown kept with it to make an insane catch in the back of the end zone and get his feet down for six.
• Play 3 - Spencer Rattler to A.T. Perry. This was Rattler's last pass in the session and he made an extremely tight throw that saw Perry go up to get it in the back of the end zone working against Rezjohn Wright. The Saints defense was in disbelief, and my notes simply said holy expletive. It was easily one of the best plays of the day.

LAGNIAPPE

Chris Olave was once again in a red non-contact jersey. This isn't exactly a surprise, and he should be good to go when training camp gets here.

Whether it was intentional or not, Taysom Hill worked with the tight ends group today.

Early on, there were a few more drops than we've seen previously from the receivers and tight ends.

Kick returner combos on the day included Jermaine Jackson/Rashid Shaheed, James Robinson/Kendre Miller and Kendre Miller/Jamaal Williams. There were some gadget plays being practiced, similar to Wednesday. Jermaine Jackson and Rashid Shaheed were fielding punts on the day.

When you look at the makeup of the roster, you take notice of those players who tend to get primary and secondary special teams reps. For what it's worth, those players include Zander Horvath, Adam Prentice, D'Marco Jackson, Anfernee Orji, Taysom Hill, Pete Werner, Jordan Mims, Khaleke Hudson, Ugo Amadi, Jacob Kibodi, Equanimeous St. Brown, Kyle Sheets and Cedrick Wilson Jr. Training camp will be interesting, to say the least.

Individual plays and players to point out from today include a Ugo Amadi pass breakup in the end zone on a Nathan Peterman pass intended for A.T. Perry on a slant, Jacob Kibodi touchdown from Nathan Peterman from a short distance, a possible sack/safety by Johnathan Abram when the Saints offense was working from their own 1-yard-line, Mason Tipton drawing a big pass interference penalty working on Rezjohn Wright from a deep sideline ball from Jake Haener, a nice crosser hookup between Dallin Holker and Haener in the same type of team sequencing, a wide open Dallin Holker hookup over the middle from Nathan Peterman for a big gain, a possible Monty Rice sack on Spencer Rattler,

Blake Grupe hit all six of his kicks today, with relative ease. We'd expect the kicker competition to heat up once we get into training camp, but there's no reason not to expect him to be the starter right now. The same could be said for Lou Hedley.

Dallin Holker continues to do everything he's needed to do to emerge as a viable weapon and legitimately make the roster. While we won't put his name there in permanent marker just yet, he keeps making big plays, particularly in the middle of the field. His touchdown grab was a thing of beauty.

I pointed out Mason Tipton some yesterday, and he continues to get some work in with the first-team. He's someone to keep an eye on.

One thing I noticed after practice was the fact that Marshon Lattimore came back onto the field to help coach up a younger player in a one-on-one setting. If you needed any more definitive proof that he's bought it, then I think that's pretty telling.

Allen said he thought the Saints had a good month of work and got a lot accomplished and that it’s a good kickstart to the summer. “We’re a long ways away from where we need to be,” Allen said. He pointed out that the team has learned from mistakes and sees progress, but obviously isn't ready to say that the Saints are where they should be.

Every player is using their downtime a little differently before going to California. Some will stay behind for rehab, while others are going to continue working and learning the playbook. Some are even going to get out of the country and do some vacations and honeymoons.