Saints Minicamp: Day 2 Takeaways and Observations

The second day of Saints minicamp is in the books, so what more did we learn about New Orleans on Wednesday?

The Saints wrapped up their second minicamp practice of the week, and we saw plenty of action on Wednesday. Let's not waste any time and get right into practice notes and observations from Day 2.

Saints Minicamp Notes and Observations - Day 2

ATTENDANCE

We were missing three players yesterday, with us learning that Rashid Shaheed is dealing with a groin injury. In addition to Shaheed, those not spotted at Wednesday's practice included Anthony Johnson, Cesar Ruiz, Cam Jordan, and Carl Granderson. Dennis Allen was asked after practice if Jordan's absence was injury related, to which he responded, “I call it old age related. Cam is fine.”

Kendre Miller, Eno Benjamin, Nick Saldiveri, Trevor Penning, and Miller Forristall were all present, but not participating. One thing to point out on Penning is the fact that he's taking part in team stretching. That's a great sign. 

OLAVE, KAMARA, TAYLOR HEADLINE PLAYS OF THE DAY

It's difficult to choose just one play from today, so I have three for you today.

The first involved Derek Carr and Alvin Kamara. This was in 7-on-7, and Carr hit him in stride on a wheel route working against Zack Baun. It was a classic Kamara play, and something we would love to see more during the season.

The second play was with Carr and Chris Olave. It was during two-minute drill, and it took the offense one play to strike pay dirt. Carr hit a deep sideline shot to Chris Olave working against double-coverage. He went up to get the catch over defenders, mainly Alontae Taylor, and took it in for the score. Needless to say, it got the offense really hyped and was a welcomed sight at practice.

The last play closed out practice, with Taylor getting some revenge in the two-minute drill. Taylor jumped a route and picked off Jake Haener for what would have been a pick-six. 

WATCHING MICHAEL THOMAS

Honed in a little bit more on Michael Thomas today, watching him work off to the side with the quarterbacks while special teams drills were going on. We're seeing some cuts out of routes, doing things at half-speed, him talking a good bit with Derek Carr. Carr was very complimentary of Thomas on Tuesday, and it looks like the chemistry between the two continues to build. Also in that period, saw Chris Olave and Ronald Curry chatting a bit. 

Okay, Bryan Edwards pic.twitter.com/2fynkNWUw0

— John Hendrix (@JohnJHendrix) June 14, 2023

QUARTERBACK PERFORMANCE

Derek Carr finished 4-of-6 in 7-on-7 and then 1-of-1 in team.  It was a nice play by Payton Turner. Jameis Winston went 4-of-4 and then 6-of-10 in two-minute, but it did not result in getting into the end zone. Jake Haener went 1-of-2 in both sessions. Taysom Hill was with the tight end group today.

SPECIAL TEAMS

It doesn't get talked about a ton, but it does help start putting some eyes on who is on the kickoff and punt teams. The Saints were working on squib kicks, and their formation included (left to right): Paulson Adebo, Juwan Johnson, Andrew Dowell, D'Marco Jackson, Zack Baun, Wil Lutz, J.T. Gray, Ty Summers, Ryan Connelly, Isaac Yiadom, and Alontae Taylor. The team was also working on lane integrity for kickoffs and returns, as well as some tackling drills where they rotated out groups.

7-ON-7 BREAKDOWN

Defensively, New Orleans rolled out Pete Werner, Marcus Maye, Alontae Taylor, Bradley Roby, Tyrann Mathieu, Marshon Lattimore, and Demario Davis. Things looked like they were going to start out rough again for the the offense, as the first two passes were off intended for Juwan Johnson over the middle and an angle route to Alvin Kamara. Maye had good coverage on Johnson. However, Carr hit his next four passes: An out route to Olave, Foster Moreau in the flats, Tre'Quan Smith on a crossing route, and then the big wheel route play to Alvin Kamara for a score.

For Jameis Winston's series, he hit passes to Kawaan Baker (curl), a checkdown to SaRodorick Thompson, Keith Kirkwood on a nice fade route in which he was held, and then Malik Flowers short on a check down. On that particular play, Shaquan Davis had a big step on the defense and would have had a score had Winston seen him.

Haener's two attempts saw Adrian Frye make a nice pass breakup working against Malik Flowers on a deep sideline shot. It was a pretty pass. His lone completion was to Taysom Hill on a curl route in front of Ty Summers and Smoke Monday. 

TWO-MINUTE WORK

As we discussed earlier, it took Derek Carr one play to get into the end zone when he connected deep with Chris Olave. They did try for a two-point conversion after they scored off the jump, but it failed.

For Winston's series, he worked things fairly well, first connecting with Bryan Edwards over the middle. He then hit Foster Moreau on the sideline, and then again on a middle route. The next pass was a throwaway, and then Winston connected with Flowers short. He then connected with A.T. Perry on a slant route, but wasn't able to on the next play, a fade route. 

Winston then hit Kirk Merritt on a short pass near the end zone, but they couldn't punch it in. He tried Moreau off the right side, but couldn't connect. The final play was intended for Tre'Quan Smith, which was broken up by Paulson Adebo.

For Haener's series, it was a quick in-and-out after him first hitting Kawaan Baker over the middle on a nice gain, but then Alontae Taylor closed things out with his pick-six.

We'll get one more look at the Saints on Thursday, and that'll be in until training camp.