Saints OTAs Observations and Practice Notes

The final Saints OTAs session didn't disappoint, with Michael Thomas dominating the Tuesday storylines from Airline Drive.

The main storyline from Saints OTAs today was about Michael Thomas being out there, but obviously more happened. We were forced indoors due to bad weather after initially being outside. Here's all of my notes and observations from Tuesday's final session available to the media.

Observations and Takeaways from Saints OTAs

ATTENDANCE: The Saints weren't missing as many players on Tuesday as the previous week, with main takeaway being around Michael Thomas being at practice. He was present, but not participating. We'll touch more on Thomas in a bit. 

Among those not spotted included Ugo Amadi, Taysom Hill, Rashid Shaheed, Marshon Lattimore, Paulson Adebo, Alvin Kamara, Cesar Ruiz, Trevor Penning, Ryan Ramczyk, James Hurst, Andrus Peat, and Khalen Saunders. Saunders was at the White House recently visiting with the Chiefs to celebrate their Super Bowl win. 

Those who returned from last week included Tre'Quan Smith, Bradley Roby, Lonnie Johnson Jr., Tyrann Mathieu, James Washington, and Nathan Shepherd. Kendre Miller, Eno Benjamin, and Miller Forristall were present, but not participating in drills. Nick Saldiveri showed up later, but was not participating.

EARLY EXITS: Anthony Johnson and Bryan Edwards were among those who left early today. Edwards was getting looked at in between drills, and then exited the field with a trainer. I did see Johnson afterwards.

MICHAEL THOMAS' DAY: It's important to first mention that Thomas was not in drills, so let's not label him as being back at practice yet. However, it's an important first step in his outlook. Thomas said during his press conference that he will be good to go for Day 1 of training camp. "First day, full speed," Thomas said.

Michael Thomas was at Saints OTAs today pic.twitter.com/eTvkjmWEPE

— John Hendrix (@JohnJHendrix) June 6, 2023

It was an honest surprise seeing him out on the field, and the Saints need him to be back to Michael Thomas, something Mickey Loomis talked about the other week. Thomas participated in stretches and was off to the side during position-specific drills. We saw no visible limitations on him. While he did not jump in any 7-on-7 or team drills, there were moments that he was catching passes from Derek Carr while other drills were going on. 

Thomas was on the sideline by himself when we went indoors, but then was catching some more passes from Derek Carr and running some routes. Carr said that there were some new plays he was learning, and Thomas was over there working with the quarterbacks separately. You could tell teammates were happy to have back around, and Thomas was overjoyed to be back.

STARTING LOOKS: Offensively, New Orleans rolled out a familiar look on the offensive line with (left to right) Landon Young, Lewis Kidd, Erik McCoy, Calvin Throckmorton and Storm Norton. Without Shaheed in the lineup, there was a mixture of receivers taking reps with the first team to go with Jamaal Williams at running back.

Defensively, Bryan Bresee hopped into the first team on a defensive line with Cam Jordan, Malcolm Roach, and Tanoh Kpassagnon. Zack Baun, Demario Davis, and Pete Werner were at linebacker. Marcus Maye and Tyrann Mathieu were at safety, with Alontae Taylor and Bradley Roby at corner. 

John Hendrix

John Hendrix

QB PERFORMANCE: All of the work was inside the red zone today, starting at the 20-yard-line. Derek Carr finished 4-of-8 on the day, going 2-of-5 in 7-on-7 and 2-of-3 in team. Jameis Winston finished 6-of-7, going 4-of-4 and 2-of-3. Jake Haener finished 2-of-5, starting 0-of-2 and then finishing 2-of-3 in team.

TEAM DRILL AND 7-ON-7 HIGHLIGHTS: Overall, there was a lot more spirits and energy to this practice. It may be just OTAs, but you saw the offense and defense jawing back and forth in a good way to create good energy out there. 

DEREK CARR'S SERIES: Carr's first attempt saw the defense with good coverage, but wound up being an incompletion to Keith Kirkwood in the red zone. Carr came back to hit Juwan Johnson on back-to-back plays, as the first hookup might have been the play of the day with Johnson catching a fade route one-handed for a score working against Isaac Yiadom. Carr went back to him for a good crosser over the middle on the next play, and then Lonnie Johnson Jr. made an incredible pass breakup over the middle on what would have been a touchdown to Chris Olave. D'Marco Jackson made another good play on a crossing route intended for Kirkwood on the final play of 7-on-7 for Carr.

In team, Carr hit a beautiful connection to Chris Olave for a touchdown with Zack Baun and Bradley Roby in coverage. It was threaded perfectly, and Olave made a good grab, albeit there was a little contact. Malik Flowers got a rush in the red zone on the next play for a good gain, and then Carr hit Williams on an angle route with Pete Werner providing good coverage. The final play for Carr in team drills saw him have Chris Olave for another touchdown, but the timing was just off by a second. Carr ended up throwing the same pass to him after the play, which was part of the plan he talked about after practice.

JAMEIS WINSTON'S SERIES: Winston was sharp in 7-on-7. You could see him go through his reads and progressions quickly, and it led to him being perfect in the red zone. His first connection was to Kawaan Baker in the back of the end zone, with the closest defender being Jonathan Abram. The defense lost him, and it was an easy score. The second play was to Tre'Quan Smith for another touchdown on a slant route over the middle working against Bradley Roby and J.T. Gray. Winston hit a crosser to Lucas Krull on the next play for a good play, and then newcomer Jesse James caught a touchdown over the middle working against Nick Anderson.

For team drills, Winston Malik Flowers on back-to-back plays over the middle and in the back of the end zone. He tried A.T. Perry on a fade route in the end zone, but Alontae Taylor had great defense to shut the door.

JAKE HANER'S SERIES: Haener's two incompletions were due to pass breakups. Issac Yiadom had made a good play on a curl route to Lucas Krull to break it up in the end zone, and then Troy Pride Jr. had a good pass breakup on A.T. Perry on an end zone fade route. Team drills were a little better for Haener, who hit Tre'Quan Smith twice for scores. The first was on a crossing route, while the final one was one a curl route. The pass in the middle was a breakup by Jordan Howden.

BLAKE GRUPE RESPONDS: Grupe had a great rebound day after a little bit of struggles last week. He was perfect from all six of his field goal attempts, with the final one being from 58 yards. He hit from extra point territory, 39, 41, 45, 51 yards in addition to the long one.

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS/NOTES

• If you somehow missed it in the recap, it was good to see Bryan Bresee work with the first team defense.
• Seeing Malik Flowers getting some work with the first-team red zone offense was very reminiscent of what Rashid Shaheed did last season. As we always say, we want to see more. Flowers continues to be a primary presence in the return game, so he's someone to keep an eye on.
• We saw a little bit of a switch today with the offensive line, with Kevin Carberry working with the interior offensive line and Jahri Evans and Doug Marrone working with the tackles.
• Chris Olave really looks comfortable and confident out there. Him, Rashid Shaheed, and Juwan Johnson might have been the best players from these three weeks of OTAs.
• Dennis Allen said that Taysom Hill will be in the tight end room again, similar to last season.
• Tre'Quan Smith had a really good showing on the day. While it's OTAs, one of the things Allen said after practice that he doesn't know if Smith has been fully healthy the past few years, but is now. There will be some good competition at the position.
• "I wouldn't like it," Allen said about being selected for Hard Knocks. He said the reason why is that he wants to focus on the team getting better and not having any distractions. The NFL has been very late in their announcement of who will be on this year. 
• Newcomer Jesse James pointed out that he worked with Clancy Barone before in Chicago.

We'll be back next week for a three-day minicamp for the team, which is surely going to bring more action for the Saints.