Saints Training Camp Day 6 Notes and Observations

Tuesday's Saints training camp seemed to be all about the tight ends. Here's our notes and observations from Day 6.

METAIRIE -- Tuesday's Saints training camp is in the books, as the team started practice outside for a portion, but then transitioned inside. The move was by design, and could be something that might be familiar for the duration of camp. The heat looked to make its mark on players today, but we still got another strong practice out of Dennis Allen's team. Here's our notes and observations from Day 6.

TRAINING CAMP RECAPS: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5

Saints Training Camp Notes and Observations from Day 6

John Hendrix

ATTENDANCE

Andrus Peat, who is dealing with a strained quad, was the only absence from training camp on Tuesday. Per NewOrleans.Football's Nick Underhill, it is considered to be minor. Troy Pride left the outside portion, but ended up returning when the team went indoors. Towards the end of practice, Lynn Bowden Jr. appeared to be shaken up and took a cart ride off the field.

STARTING LOOKS AND MORE

The offensive line featured Trevor Penning, James Hurst, Erik McCoy, Cesar Ruiz, and Storm Norton today. Nick Saldiveri got some small work in as the team's second left guard option. There's a lot of flip-flopping going on each day with the group, and as we pointed out yesterday, Peat's injury will give others a chance to make their case.

Defensively, New Orleans rolled with a traditional 4-3 base today. The line had Cam Jordan, Nathan Shepherd, Khalen Saunders, and Payton Turner. However, I did see Bryan Bresee and Tanoh Kpassagnon roll in with the first-team team drills. Zack Baun, Pete Werner, and Demario Davis were at linebacker, with Alontae Taylor and Marshon Lattimore on the outside. Tyrann Mathieu and Marcus Maye were at safety.

TIGHT END TUESDAY

The main beneficiaries of practice was the tight end room. They were active all day in the receiving department, and it was all of them. The play of the day came during the second team drill series after Jameis Winston hit Foster Moreau near the right sideline for a big gain. Moreau jumped off to get the ball and made an outstanding catch. 

QUARTERBACK PERFORMANCE

From today's collective input, breakdowns for Derek Carr are 5-of-6 (7-on-7), 0-of-1, 3-of-3, and 2-of-3. Jameis Winston went 3-of-4 in 7's, 2-of-2, and 5-of-5. Jake Haener was perfect on the day, as he went 2-of-2 in 7's, and then 2-of-2, 1-of-1, and 2-of-2 in team.

7-ON-7: Carr's completions were to Jamaal Williams for a short gain, Foster Moreau in the flats for a short hookup, and then a big play to Alvin Kamara down the seam for a big gain with Zack Baun in coverage. Carr hit Michael Thomas on a short crossing route as Carr targeted Baun again. He kept things going by hitting Jesse James on an intermediate gain off a curl route. The final rep was to Jimmy Graham in the flats working against Baun, but it was dropped at the end.

Winston's first pass was into the flats to Eno Benjamin, and then an angle route over the middle to Jesse James. He then found Jimmy Graham underneath, and while that play did work, it's worth pointing out that Nephi Sewell had great coverage on the outside against Kirk Merritt. Winston's miss was a wheel route to Kendre Miller. It was a good throw, but just off his hands.

Haener just had two reps, and completed both. The first was to Elliss Merriweather in the flats, and then an underneath route to Lucas Krull that got a good reaction from the offense. 

TEAM SERIES NO. 1: We all missed the first two plays of team drills with Carr due to the transition inside. The plays we did see was a run inside for a minimal gain, and then a deep shot down the right sideline on a go route to Rashid Shaheed with Ugo Amadi was in coverage. The two didn't appear to be on the same page.

Jameis Winston's series was reminiscent to the other day in which he rotated with Taysom Hill each play. These were all runs for the four plays, as Malcolm Roach had a nice run stop on Jamaal Williams to start. Hill's first zone read went to the right side, and he made some contact with Lonnie Johnson Jr. downfield on the play. The next play was run inside to Eno Benjamin that featured a Payton Turner run stop. The final run of the series was to Hill outside left, and Nephi Sewell did a nice job to be in a position to make a tackle for loss.

Jake Haener's first reps were runs to Kendre Miller for a nice gain followed by an Elliss Merriweather run inside. Haener connected with Rashid Shaheed on a slant play, and then hit Keith Kirkwood on a crossing route over the middle in front of Jordan Howden on a nicely executed play.

TEAM SERIES NO. 2: Carr's outing here started with a short gain underneath on a shallow crosser from Foster Moreau working against Pete Werner. The next play was an inside run to Alvin Kamara that saw Trevor Penning do a nice job of closing off the defender to help on the play. Carr hit Juwan Johnson on the next play on a drag route that led to some big YAC. Carr then went with play action on the final play to boot right and hit Foster Moreau for a decent hookup.

Winston's reps started with an inside run to Jamaal Williams, where Malcolm Roach made a nice run stop. Winston then hit Kendre Miller in the flats on a swing pass, and then found Lucas Krull for a nice gain working against Anfernee Orji. The final play was an inside run to Miller, with a nice run stop from Nephi Sewell.

Haener's first play under center was an outside run to Kirk Merritt for a decent gain, followed by an outside attempt to Elliss Merriweather that was stopped. His lone pass was a completion to Merriweather over the middle working against Andrew Dowell. He was in a good position and spot to stop it quickly. The final rep was an outside run to Eno Benjamin.

TEAM SERIES NO. 3: The final work for Carr saw him hit Alvin Kamara on a swing pass on the right side. Cam Jordan provided the pressure on the play. He then hit a slant to Chris Olave. The third play was blown dead after Carl Granderson got in the backfield for a would-be sack on Carr. The final rep was a middle crosser to Michael Thomas working against Ugo Amadi, but the pass was a little low and Thomas tried, but dropped it.

Winston got a few more reps than normal, getting things started with a good hookup to Jimmy Graham off the right side working against Paulson Adebo. The next play was a wide receiver screen to Chris Olave that Zack Baun and Ugo Amadi were there for to force a tackle for loss. Winston came back and had a good hookup to Keith Kirkwood on the next play. Winston then hooked up with Foster Moreau on what we mentioned previously as the play of the day. The next play was hard to see from everyone's vantage point, but it appeared as though it was a completion to James Washington on the right side. The final play was a big hookup to Jesse James on a crossing route.

Haener got two snaps for his series, completing a pass to A.T. Perry on a curl route working against Isaac Yiadom. He then got Jamaal Williams on a screen play that was nicely executed and he took upfield. 

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS AND NOTES

• Practice flow had a fun little wrinkle with the wide receivers today, as they worked with large Yoga balls during a set of drills. They caught a quick pass and then had to adjust to the ball rolling in. Most evaded to one side, but Rashid Shaheed and Michael Thomas were two of the receivers who cleared it by hurdling over.
• We pointed out Nick Saldiveri a little earlier, but there was a nice rep between him and Bryan Bresee to start the Winston series. Saldiveri had strong blocking working from the left guard position.
• Alontae Taylor continues to get some work in the slot, and it was with the second team defense today.
• We don't talk about fullbacks often, but we've seen solo work from them as a group more than normal. Jake Bargas and Adam Prentice are getting their own time in like the other position groups instead of being with the running backs.
• Speaking of Michael Thomas, he talked to us after practice. Thomas said that his chip is very big, and it grows every day. He was talking about competition and some of the things that are out there, “Doubt me. You can doubt me, then I’m gonna get you and we’ll see what happens. That might be like a psychological problem for you because I just proved you wrong, and then you still doubt me. It’s good for the game." Thomas is going full speed in his routes, and he looks good. 
• There were a few debates over Blake Grupe's field goals with the vantage point indoors, but it looks like we're back on an even playing field. He made the first three kicks, but went 4-of-5 on his second set of kicks. The miss was from 41 yards out and wide right.
• Lou Hedley was having an incredible start to his punting day. He had one real whiff, but here's his unofficial hang times on the day: 5.85, 4.46, 4.87, 4.84, 4.95, 4.59, 3.53, 4.32, 4.63, 4.62, 4.78, 4.40.
• Speaking of the punt team, just passing along the inside formation, which can somewhat matter when looking at final 53-man roster projections. It consisted of Nephi Sewell, Ty Summers, Carl Granderson, D'Marco Jackson, Zach Wood, Ryan Connelly, Zack Baun, Andrew Dowell, Adam Prentice, and Taysom Hill. Juwan Johnson also worked as a personal protector in drills. Punt returners on the day were Lynn Bowden Jr., Keke Coutee, and Rashid Shaheed.
• Kirk Merritt had two really good special teams reps on the day, with the first coming after he downed a Lou Hedley punt inside the 5-yard-line. The second was him winning a gunner rep against the duo of Eno Benjamin and Lonnie Johnson Jr. 
• Right before the final series of team drills, Juwan Johnson and Foster Moreau were doing some work with Jameis Winston and Jake Haener with Derek Carr onlooking. It was similar to what we saw early on with Michael Thomas and Carr, just getting some extra reps and practice in.