Saints Training Camp Day 17 Notes and Observations

Day 17 for the Saints saw them finish out their joint practices with the Chargers, as I focused on the New Orleans defense.

COSTA MESA -- Joint practices with the Chargers is in the books, as we got another look at the Saints today. If you missed it, be sure to go back through all of our notes from yesterday. Ross Jackson and I split up duties here, as I focused on the defense today. Go here to read up on the offense.

TRAINING CAMP RECAPS: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Day 6 | Day 7 | Day 8 | Day 9 | Day 10 | Day 11 | What We've Learned | Day 12 | Day 13 | Day 14 | Day 15 | Day 16 (Offense) | Day 16 (Defense)

Saints Training Camp Notes and Observations from Day 17

ATTENDANCE

There wasn't too many changes to attendance, but one new absence was added in Shaq Davis. We did not spot him, Tre'Quan Smith (groin), Landon Young (MCL sprain), or Jesse James (groin). Taysom Hill was around today, but was not in pads. He's dealing with an oblique strain. Rashid Shaheed and Cesar Ruiz were also around, but not in pads. Shaheed, Ruiz, and Demario Davis were doing some work off to the side.

Marshon Lattimore hurt his knee during 7-on-7's and was held out of practice as a precautionary measure. Dennis Allen said that he planted and felt something, and it's not considered to be serious. Lattimore did hang around all practice on the sideline, so that's a good and encouraging sign.

STARTING LOOKS AND MORE

For the offensive line, we had the same starting look as yesterday. From left to right, Trevor Penning, James Hurst, Erik McCoy, Calvin Throckmorton, and Ryan Ramczyk was the starting look.

On defense, the Saints rolled with their base 4-3 at first, which featured Cam Jordan, Nathan Shepherd, Khalen Saunders, and Carl Granderson on the defensive line. Zack Baun, Pete Werner, and Nephi Sewell were at linebacker, while Alontae Taylor and Paulson Adebo were on the outside. Marcus Maye and Tyrann Mathieu were at safety.

Second pairings had Tanoh Kpassagnon, Malcolm Roach, Bryan Bresee, and Payton Turner on the line, as the Saints operated in nickel some. D'Marco Jackson and Jaylon Smith were at linebacker, while Bradley Roby was in the slot. 

HURRICANE HILARY

It's a bit weird having to talk about this in this area, of all places, but here we are. The Saints and Chargers are going to have a call with the league on Friday afternoon to discuss the game. We'll know more afterwards, but the likeliest scenarios would be to move up the game or cancel it. The deciding factor may depend on how quickly the field team can get things ready from the Rams playing the Raiders on Saturday night. We'll know more here soon.

7-ON-7 NOTES

So, we were on the far side of the field yesterday when the offense was there to battle the Chargers defense. We anticipated a flip-flop today, but that grouping went to the fans today. Here's what I captured after the transition with notes.

Easton Stick (2/2)

• Complete, short right side to Stone Smartt (Zack Baun).
• Complete, short right side to John Hightower (Alontae Taylor).

Justin Herbert (1/3)

Saints main personnel: Tyrann Mathieu, Paulson Adebo, Bradley Roby, Jaylon Smith, Pete Werner, Marcus Maye, Alontae Taylor 

• Incomplete, holding by the Saints defense.
• Complete, comeback left short to Keenan Allen (Paulson Adebo).
• Incomplete, deep out right to Mike Williams (Alontae Taylor). Pass was off-target. Subs on the play included Zack Baun and Nephi Sewell.
• Incomplete, deep left sideline to Quentin Johnson (Isaac Yiadom). Great coverage by Yiadom on the play.

Easton Stick (1/2)

• Interception, Ugo Amadi on the pick, intended for Derius Davis on a curl route to the right. It was a nice play for Amadi, as he's been one on the rise for a while now.
• Complete, crossing route to John Hightower (Troy Pride).

TEAM DRILL DETAILS

We had five different sets of team drills today, with Justin Herbert getting the majority of the action. The main takeaway I'd have from the Saints defense is that they didn't give up any big plays, and it was mostly dink and dunk on them. I thought both units played strong, only surrendering two touchdowns in the drills. 

Overall, Justin Herbert finished 12/25 and Easton Stick went 4/10, and after you read the details, make of that what you will.

Saints defense: Cam Jordan, Nathan Shepherd, Khalen Saunders, Carl Granderson, Zack Baun, Pete Werner, Nephi Sewell, Alontae Taylor (left), Paulson Adebo (right), Marcus Maye, Tyrann Mathieu

TEAM SERIES NO. 1 (HERBERT 4/6, STICK 0/1): Justin Herbert's first series saw him have a toss play to the right with Austin Ekeler. It was a nice intermediate gain, as there's a lot of appreciation in his quickness and ability to get to the second level. It was definitely the best run for him. The Saints tightened up on the next play after Pete Werner stopped something short inside to Joshua Kelley. Herbert went to Zander Horvath in the right flats on the next play for a short gain that was stopped by Pete Werner. The final play of the series saw him hit an inside intermediate pass to Gerald Everett working against Paulson Adebo.

Easton Stick's first pass was a throwaway right after Tanoh Kpassagnon provided the pressure. He ran two plays before Herbert came back in, as his second was a run to the left with Isaiah Spiller. The play resulted in a hold on Payton Turner by the offense.

Herbert came back in for several more plays, starting with a nice end around with Mike Williams that got to the second level. He then hit Austin Ekeler underneath on a short gain with Bradley Roby in coverage, and then had an identical hookup to Joshua Kelley with Pete Werner on the tackle. Cam Jordan had a nice pressure on the play. The next play saw Isaiah Foskey jump offsides early, and on the free play it was a hookup to Tre' McKitty for a decent gain. However, McKitty was called for an offensive face mask penalty on Ugo Amadi to offset the play.

Stick came back and had two handoffs. The first was inside to Kelley that saw Jaylon Smith stop him for a loss. The second was a short run to the left outside with Elijah Dotson that saw Kyle Phillips on the tackle.

TEAM SERIES NO. 2 (HERBERT 2/5): Herbert's second series saw him take all the snaps. The first play was an inside zone to the left with Austin Ekeler for several yards with Paulson Adebo on the stop. Adebo was the recipient of a 'mini-truck' by Ekeler. The next run with Ekeler went to the right side for a few yards with Pete Werner and Marcus Maye combining for the stop. Herbert hit an inside short pass to the left side, connecting with Josh Palmer working against Alontae Taylor. He then handed to Kelley for inside run for a decent gain that was stopped by Marcus Maye.

Herbert's second pass was incomplete to Stone Smartt, who he tried deep down the right sideline. There was pretty good coverage by Anthony Johnson on the play. Herbert targeted Johnson on the next play, hooking up with Keenan Allen for an intermediate gain. The next pass came off a play fake to Isaiah Spiller, and Herbert tried Allen deep down the right side in the end zone, but Johnson had good coverage on the play. 

The next pass went incomplete, which was more of a throwaway with Donald Parham in the area. Herbert held the ball for six seconds, as the Saints defense had good coverage on the play. Tanoh Kpassagnon came with the pressure to force the incompletion. The final play was an intermediate pass to the outside to Josh Palmer that went incomplete, but Taylor was called for pass interference. 

TEAM SERIES NO. 3 (HERBERT 3/4, STICK 1/2): This sequence focused on down and distance, originating on the opposite of the field for the first several plays before moving to the defense's 25-yard-line.

Easton Stick started this series off by hitting an out route to the left side with Elijah Dotson. Khalen Saunders showed off some major wheels to track him down for a tackle after a 4-6-yard gain. For 2nd Down, Dotson got the stretch handoff left that was stopped short of the first down marker by D'Marco Jackson. The Chargers converted the 3rd Down play with an inside handoff to Zander Horvath, with Nathan Shepherd and Pete Werner combining for the stop on the short gain. 

With a fresh set of downs, the next play went to Tyler Hoosman inside for a small gain with Kyle Phillips on the stop. The next play saw Elijah Dotson with a rushing attempt on the delay in the middle that saw Malcolm Roach make first contact for another short gain. For 3rd Down, the Saints defense stopped the Chargers are an attempted run to Isaiah Miller off the left side with a combined tackle from Isaiah Foskey and Jaylon Smith.

Herbert then came in to run plays from the Saints' 25-yard-line, with Stick rotating in for some plays.

Justin Herbert (2/3)

• 25-yard-line: Complete, left flats to Austin Ekeler. Cam Jordan had the pressure, and the Saints were guilty of an illegal contact penalty in the secondary.
• 20-yard-line: Incomplete, end zone right side intended for Josh Palmer (Paulson Adebo). Adebo had some really tight coverage on the play.
• 15-yard-line: RB flip to Austin Ekeler that saw him get to the second level. Bradley Roby checked in for slot duties on this play.
• 12-yard-line: Complete, Joshua Kelley flats right (Pete Werner).

Easton Stick (0/1)

• 11-yard-line: Inside handoff to Joshua Kelley for 3-4 yards (Lonnie Johnson).
• 9-yard-line: Incomplete, intended for Keelan Doss near the end zone on the curl route (Johnathan Abram). Pass was dropped.

Justin Herbert (1/1)

• 25-yard-line: Austin Ekeler sweep left for 5-6 yards (Jaylon Smith).
• 14-yard-line: Joshua Kelley toss left (Jaylon Smith). Smith showed off some major range on back-to-back plays.
• 6-yard-line: Complete, touchdown on the out route right to Gerald Everett (Marcus Maye). Defense was also called for a hold on the play.
• 3-yard-line: Isaiah Spiller run inside (Kyle Phillips/Marcus Maye).

Easton Stick (1/1)

• 6-yard-line: Elijah Dotson outside left for 4 yards (Adrian Frye/Johnathan Abram).
• 4-yard-line: Complete, left side short to Aaron Shampklin (Ugo Amadi/Johnathan Abram).

TEAM SERIES NO. 4 (HERBERT 1/3, STICK 1/1): The final team sequence saw the Chargers working from inside the 15-yard-line for red zone. This is where the Saints allowed their other touchdown of the day, which came on the final play in the period.

Justin Herbert (1/3)

• 15-yard-line: Flip left to Austin Ekeler (Jaylon Smith).
• 11-yard-line: Austin Ekeler run left (Carl Granderson/Paulson Adebo). Granderson did a nice job making first contact with Adebo to clean up the play.
• 12-yard-line: Incomplete, end zone right intended for Josh Palmer (Paulson Adebo). Credit Adebo with a pass breakup here.
• Flag, delay of game.
• 12-yard-line: Joshua Kelley run inside (Nathan Shepherd/Carl Granderson). Holding call on the Chargers offense.
• 12-yard-line: Complete, Keenan Allen sideline left on a post-wheel route (Johnathan Abram).
• 9-yard-line: Herbert keeper inside after pressure from Payton Turner (Nephi Sewell).
• 5-yard-line: Incomplete, end zone right intended for Gerald Everett (Anthony Johnson). Noticed that Herbert went through his progressions, and Everett was his fourth read.

Easton Stick (1/1)

• 1st Down, 15-yard-line: Elijah Dotson run left (Carl Granderson).
• 2nd Down, 15-yard-line: Tyler Hoosman run inside left (Johnathan Abram).
• 3rd Down, 14-yard-line: Complete, inside curl to Stone Smartt (Bradley Roby/Lonnie Johnson Jr.).
• 4th Down, 6-yard-line: Incomplete, fade left to Quentin Johnson (Alontae Taylor). Taylor was called for pass interference to give the Chargers a fresh set of downs. Ball stayed on the 6.
• 1st Down, 6-yard-line: Elijah Dotson inside run for 4 yards (Lonnie Johnson/Ty Summers).
• 2nd Down, 2-yard-line: Elijah Dotson inside run (Bryan Bresee/Kyle Phillips). Tackle for loss, nice play by Bresee to blow things up.
• 3rd Down, 3-yard-line: Isaiah Spiller inside for a touchdown.

TEAM SERIES NO. 5 (HERBERT 2/7, STICK 2/6): This was an end of game situation for the Chargers offense that saw them have 48 seconds to score a touchdown starting on the defense's 40-yard-line. New Orleans held strong on both.

Justin Herbert (2/7)

• 0:48, 40-yard-line: Complete, dump off left short to Austin Ekeler (Isaac Yiadom).
• 0:31, 32-yard-line: Incomplete, deep right side intended for Quentin Johnson (Marcus Maye). Credit Maye for a pass breakup here, as he nearly had a pick.
• 0:25, 32-yard-line: Incomplete, intended for Keenan Allen (Bradley Roby). Roby had a nice pass breakup on the play.
• 0:20, 32-yard-line: Complete, short right to Keenan Allen (Bradley Roby/Nephi Sewell). Chargers picked up the first down here on 4th Down.
• 0:15, 25-yard-line: Incomplete, intended for Quentin Johnson (Alontae Taylor). Pass was overthrown, and honestly it looked like Carl Granderson might have had a sack on the play, but we'll give him the pressure at least.
• 0:09, 25-yard-line: Incomplete, intended for Keenan Allen in right end zone (Anthony Johnson).
• 0:01, 25-yard-line: Interception, picked off in the end zone by Marcus Maye. Maye had a very easy interception with the Saints playing prevent.

Easton Stick (2/6)

• 0:48, 40-yard-line: Incomplete, sideline right short pass intended for Keelan Doss (Ugo Amadi).
• 0:43, 40-yard-line: Incomplete, intended for Isaiah Spiller short (Alontae Taylor). Credit Tanoh Kpassagnon with the pressure and a near pick for Taylor.
• 0:38, 40-yard-line: Complete, side left intermediate gain for 15 to Stone Smartt (Lonnie Johnson Jr.). 
• 0:17, 25-yard-line: Complete, short left to Isaiah Spiller (Alontae Taylor) for 6 yards. Taylor had a nice thump on the play.
• 0:11, 19-yard-line: Incomplete, left side to Stone Smartt. 
• 0:03, 19-yard-line: Incomplete, end zone pass attempt intended for Terrell Bynum (Lonnie Johnson Jr.). Pressure was there by the Saints defense, and Johnson Jr. had a pass breakup.

GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS

• Special teams reps had some extra spiciness to them today during gunner and jammer reps. It was a little interesting in how the drill went. The Saints would punt and have their inside rush go against the Chargers, while the jammers were Chargers defenders and the return person was a Saints player. It was an interesting wrinkle, but yet somehow how they all ran together. It worked both ways.
• Jaylon Smith seems to be learning things quickly, and Dennis Allen said as much today. He's showing that he has some good range. We really want to see more from him.
• Marcus Maye continues to look really strong for the Saints defense. We'll see how the legal process plays out, but this should be a much better season for him.
• Drew Brees was out at practice today. There were a lot of friends and family here for Saints players over the two days.
• Some interesting chatter about Michael Thomas recently, and my take would be this. I think he's been playing well recently. In the early stages of training camp, you could see him working out the kinks. He's at a much better stage this year than he was last year when the team had joint practices with the Packers. I don't think anyone is expecting him to be the old version of Michael Thomas, but he is still a strong option for this team and will make an impact.