Saints Training Camp Day 2 Notes and Observations

Day 2 of Saints training camp is in the books, and we saw a good bit of fun action from New Orleans at practice.

METAIRIE — Day 2 of Saints training camp is in the books, and Thursday's practice gave us a little bit more insight on the team. The heat was a lot more noticeable, which forced some early exits from practice for some. Overall, it was a good and spirited day of action. Here's all of our notes and observations from practice.

TRAINING CAMP RECAPS: Day 1

Saints Training Camp Notes and Observations from Day 2

John Hendrix

ATTENDANCE AND TREVOR PENNING

Trevor Penning was the lone absence for the Saints on the day, as Dennis Allen revealed after practice that he is dealing with a foot injury. He's considered day-to-day, and Allen expects him back out soon and that it is not related to the previous surgery. Allen said it's minor and more of a precaution to keep him out. Keith Kirkwood (heat exhaustion), Shaq Davis (heat exhaustion), and Khalen Saunders (illness) did not finish practice.

Saunders left the earliest, going into the cold tank after a drill and then exited the field with a trainer. Anthony Johnson was once again working off to the side. While the team was doing gassers to end practice, Cesar Ruiz and Bryan Bresee were on the bike. That is all part of the ramp-up process, according to Dennis Allen. Allen also took part in gassers for the second straight day.

STARTING LOOKS, SUBS, AND MORE

On offense, the Saints rolled with James Hurst, Andrus Peat, Erik McCoy, Cesar Ruiz, and Ryan Ramczyk on the offense line to start. Calvin Throckmorton later subbed in for Ruiz and also ran the second part of team drills as the starter at right guard. The second group consisted of (left to right) Landon Young, Calvin Throckmorton, Max Garcia, Trai Turner, and Storm Norton. 

Defensively, New Orleans rolled a base look with Cam Jordan, Malcolm Roach, Nathan Shepherd, and Payton Turner. Zack Baun, Demario Davis, and Pete Werner were at linebacker, while Alontae Taylor started opposite of Marshon Lattimore. Marcus Maye and Tyrann Mathieu were at safety. Bryan Bresee and Tanoh Kpassagnon rotated in as well.

PAYTON TURNER

Dennis Allen said after practice that Turner getting reps with the first-team defense is a combination of something that he's earned and the team trying to find the answer opposite of Cam Jordan. Allen said that someone has to take that role and not be given it. He's had several positive impact plays through the first two practices. Allen reiterated that he's earn the right to get those reps and now it's a matter of what he does with him.

ANDREW DOWELL AND TAKEAWAYS

We're two practices in, and Andrew Dowell caused a fumble for the second straight day. This time, it came on a passing play after he knocked the ball out of Kendre Miller's hands on a short catch. Miller had to run a lap afterwards, but it was a good sign on Dowell's part. 

Dennis Allen emphasized a couple of times the importance of takeaways, saying that teams are not going to give the ball to them and they have to go out and take it away. Issac Yiadom had a forced fumble on Kirk Merritt on Wednesday, and then the combination of Smoke Monday and Jack Heflin was able to force a fumble on a Jake Haener dropback to close out team drills. Two days in, things do look pretty promising here, but we absolutely want to see it in game situations.

QUARTERBACK PERFORMANCE AND BREAKDOWN

Between 7-on-7 and team drills, Derek Carr finished 6-of-10 on the day. He went 2-of-4 to start in 7-on-7, 1-of-2 and 3-of-4 in team. Jameis Winston went 8-of-10, going 4-of-4, 1-of-3, and 3-of-3. Jake Haener turned in a day of 8-of-9, going 4-of-4, 1-of-2, and 3-of-3.

7-ON-7: Carr hit his first pass in 7-on-7, a slant route to James Washington. The next two throws were a bit off, and he had Chris Olave over the middle and then Jimmy Graham on a seam route that was just over his head. He finished out his series hitting Jake Bargas in the flats with Zack Baun in coverage.

Jameis Winston hit passes to Chris Olave in the flats, Jimmy Graham short left, Alvin Kamara on a swing route, and then Kawaan Baker on an intermediate gain on the right side. It was good coverage by the defense that forced Winston to roll out, and D'Marco Jackson slipped covering Baker to get the completion.

Jake Haener's outing saw him hit Kendre Miller short over the middle to start, and that's where Andrew Dowell's strip happened in which he recovered. Haener hit Keke Coutee on the next play on a deep rollout play. There was good coverage by Adrian Frye on the play, but Coutee and Haener made it work. The final two hookups were to Lucas Krull on a short curl route in the middle and an inside short route to Taysom Hill.

FIRST TEAM DRILL SERIES: The first play in team with Derek Carr under center saw Jamaal Williams make a good cut back inside for a big gain. The offensive line opened up a good hole for him. Carr went deep on the right sideline on his first pass for Chris Olave, but the ball was a little bit underthrown. Still, it was excellent coverage by Alontae Taylor on the play. Carr came back on the next play on a play action rollout to the right in which he hooked up with Rashid Shaheed for an excellent catch. Taylor was in coverage on that one. The last play for Carr's series was a run to the outside with Kamara.

Winston's first series didn't go so well, as the first pass was thrown into the ground due to pressure. Eno Benjamin had a nice gain on an outside zone run for the second play. His lone completion was to Keith Kirkwood for a short gain. Winston also went deep in his series on a pass to Rashid Shaheed, which ended up hitting the helmet of Troy Pride Jr.

Jake Haener started his series by connecting with Keke Coutee on a short curl route, and then an outside run to the left by Kirk Merritt got plugged up by Zack Baun. Haener tried something deep down the right sideline for A.T. Perry, but it was overthrown and out of bounds. Adrian Fry and Ugo Amadi were there for pretty good coverage. The final play to close out the first team series was an Ellis Merriweather run inside that Andrew Dowell stopped.

SECOND TEAM DRILL SERIES: Carr had a little better luck during his second series, and nearly went perfect. His first pass play went to Alvin Kamara in the flats, and Kamara put a nice juke inside on Zack Baun to pick up some YAC. His second pass connected with a short gain to Rashid Shaheed working against Marshon Lattimore after some pressure caused the pocket to collapse. Payton Turner had a big pressure on the ensuing play that almost saw a big hookup between Carr and Michael Thomas on the deep left sideline, but it was dropped at the very end. Carr finished by connecting on a slant to Bryan Edwards working against Paulson Adebo.

Winston's series started with him hooking up with Shaheed for a short gain, as Carl Granderson had a pressure on the play. Kendre Miller had an inside run next, where Bryan Bresee was there to make first contact in the backfield and would have likely had a tackle for loss and run stop. Winston hit Ellis Merriweather on a swing pass afterwards, and Ryan Connelly had a good tackle there that would have resulted in a loss. Winston's series closed out on a high note, as he hit Foster Moreau working against Connelly on a deep route on the right side for a pretty catch. Carr gave Moreau a special dab after the play.

Haener went to work by starting with a good gain after connecting with Kirk Merritt on an angle route out fo the backfield working against Nephi Sewell. There was a good bit of YAC afterwards. Haener had a screen play to Jamaal Williams on the next play, but credit Jack Heflin for a stop behind the line of scrimmage. Haener then hit Jimmy Graham on a curl route with Isaiah Foskey having a great rep against Scott Lashley to apply the pressure. The final play to close out team was a strip on Haener via Heflin and Smoke Monday.

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS AND NOTES

• The heat element saw a lot more of the position groups rotating in the outdoor freezer, and we expect this to be the norm going forward. Yesterday was a nice overcast today, but the sun was out in full force on Thursday.
• New Saints defensive coordinator Joe Woods has spent most of his time with the secondary. You can really get a feel for his hands-on approach and how authoritative he is in teaching. Along with Marcus Robertson, the group is getting some excellent coaching, something that started back in OTAs.
• This could be a general observation, but it looked like Taysom Hill is a lot more toned in his legs. They look like they have more definition than before.
• Blake Grupe made all six of his kicks, kicking in two separate periods which included closing out practice. Both kickers have looked sharp to start training camp, which has carried over from OTAs and minicamp.
• Ugo Amadi got some work in as a punt returner today to add to the trio of Rashid Shaheed, Keke Coutee, and Lynn Bowden Jr. 
• Lou Hedley handled all punting duties today, and he has some really good boots out there. It was a mixed bag overall, as the hang time and distance was not consistent. The point I would compare it to is how many times we'd see returners have to backpedal from a Blake Gillikin punt. However, Hedley's last two punts were nice ones to land inside the 7-yard and 9-yard-line. 
• Primary jammers today included Alontae Taylor and J.T. Gray on one side with Issac Yiadom and Kawaan Baker on the other. 
• Kick coverage featured Juwan Johnson, Smoke Monday, Alontae Taylor, and Isaac Yiadom and the primary lane workers.