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Dennis Allen Presser Takeaways from Owners' Meetings

Takeaways from Dennis Allen's press conference from the NFL Owners' Meeting on Tuesday morning in Phoenix.

John Hendrix

Dennis Allen Presser Takeaways from Owners' Meetings
Dennis Allen Presser Takeaways from Owners' Meetings /
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Dennis Allen spoke at length during the NFL Owners' Meeting in Phoenix on Tuesday morning. He covered a wide array of topics from the state of the Saints to individual players and more. Here's some of the biggest takeaways from his interview, which you can catch up on below.

JOINT PRACTICES IN CALIFORNIA: Allen confirmed that the Saints will be holding joint practices with the Chargers. These are expected to be held out in Costa Mesa.

MICHAEL THOMAS UPDATE: The Saints receiver is not 100 percent healthy, as Allen revealed, but will be expected to be ready for the start of the season. Thomas underwent a toe surgery on November that shut him down last year.

Allen said, "I expect him to be fully healthy ready to go, when that point in time is I don’t want to get into speculation but we feel good about where he’s at."

Allen also said that the acquisition of Derek Carr was big in Thomas staying, but cited that a lot of the players know they work for one of the better organizations in the league.

ALVIN KAMARA UPDATE: "We're really just letting that legal process play out, and then we'll adjust our plans accordingly," Allen said. "There's really not a whole lot we can do about it. So I don't know that we spend a whole lot of nights thinking about it."

Kamara's next big legal date is July 31, which will be during training camp.

O-LINE UPDATE: Cesar Ruiz and Trevor Penning should be ready to go by training camp. Allen said Penning is facing a big year and the sky is the limit for him, but health is going to be key.

He said, "He's big. He's physical. I love his play demeanor. He's athletic for a guy of his size. So we're excited about the player."

JAMEIS WINSTON WANTED TO STAY: "When we signed Derek (Carr), I wasn't sure if that was going to be something that Jameis was gonna want to do, but Jameis wanted to be back. The team wanted him back. He's back."

DEFENSIVE PRIORITIES: Allen said that there is still some things the Saints want to work on during the offseason and there are some additions to be made along the defensive line and at the linebacker positions. The team needs to shore up their depth. Allen spoke on the additions of Khalen Saunders and Nathan Shepherd, comparing Saunders to Hollis Thomas and Shepherd to David Onyemata. 

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John Hendrix
JOHN HENDRIX

I officially started covering the New Orleans Saints & other NFL topics in 2011. My work has been featured on various outlets over the years. I worked closely with Skyhorse Publishing in Fall 2018 to update the book, Tales From the New Orleans Saints Sidelines, which filled in all Saints material from the 2013-2017 seasons. Prior to joining Saints News Network, I served as the Managing Editor of SB Nation's Canal Street Chronicles for 3.5 years, and before that with FanSided's Who Dat Dish as the Managing Editor for several years. I have also had experiences of being a freelance Saints reporter for The Sun Herald in Biloxi, MS and a contributing writer for WDSU, a local NBC TV station in New Orleans. I have appeared on a vast amount of TV and Radio shows, both nationally and locally. For tips, comments, or suggestions, please contact me at johnhendrix@saintsnews.net

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