Saints Training Camp Day 7 Notes and Observations

There were a few missing players at Wednesday's training camp practice for the Saints, and the defense had a pretty solid day overall.

METAIRIE -- The Saints moved practices indoors for Wednesday's session. The defense had a pretty strong day overall, and there were a couple of concerns that popped up from the team's 7th practice. Here's our notes and observations from the day.

TRAINING CAMP RECAPS: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Day 6

Saints Training Camp Notes and Observations from Day 7

John Hendrix

ATTENDANCE

There were a few players missing today, as Bradley Roby, Alvin Kamara, Ryan Ramczyk, Andrus Peat, and Jimmy Graham were among those not spotted at practice. Dennis Allen revealed after practice that Scott Lashley was waived/injured, and the team signed Tommy Kraemer, who was in No. 62. Kamara is in New York to meet with Roger Goodell.

There were three early exits in practice, with the first being Andrew Dowell. He came up limping after making a tackle near the sideline, and stood off to the sideline for a portion until going until the locker room. Allen made it a point to check on him as he walked off the field. Allen said it's a knee injury for him. Alontae Taylor also left practice due to hamstring tightness, and Calvin Throckmorton left due to an elbow injury.

STARTING LOOKS AND MORE

Offensively, the Saints rolled out a line of Trevor Penning, James Hurst, Erik McCoy, Cesar Ruiz, and Storm Norton as their starters. Subs included Landon Young at left tackle and Calvin Throckmorton at right guard. Nick Saldiveri also worked as the second-team left guard again. 

For the defense, it was their base 4-3 look with Cam Jordan, Malcolm Roach, Nathan Shepherd, and Carl Granderson on the line. Zack Baun, Pete Werner, and Demario Davis were at linebacker, with Paulson Adebo and Marshon Lattimore on the outside. Marcus Maye and Tyrann Mathieu were at safety. We also saw D'Marco Jackson and Tanoh Kpassagnon rotating with the first-team. Later on in team, things looked a little different with a line of Cam Jordan, Bryan Bresee, Khalen Saunders, and Payton Turner on the line. Ugo Amadi got some work in the slot.

1-ON-1 DETAILS

Here's all the detailed results from the 1-on-1's with my notes. All quarterbacks were involved in these, but no tight ends or safeties this time.

• Michael Thomas vs. Marshon Lattimore (Carr) - Incomplete, fade left. Great start here, with Carr trying a fade route off the left side to Thomas. Lattimore was in perfect positioning to break up the pass.
• Chris Olave vs. Paulson Adebo (Carr) - Complete, crosser middle.
• Bryan Edwards vs. Ugo Amadi (Haener) - Incomplete, back shoulder. Good throw by Haener on the play.
• Tre'Quan Smith vs. Alontae Taylor (Haener ) - Complete, sideline right.
• Rashid Shaheed vs. Anthony Johnson (Carr) - Incomplete, fade left. Looks like the pass got lost in the lights.
• Kawaan Baker vs. Isaac Yiadom (Carr) - Complete, comeback right intermediate.
• A.T. Perry vs. Adrian Frye (Haener) - Complete, slant going left to right.
• James Washington vs. Troy Pride (Haener) - Incomplete, deep right sideline, pass breakup. Ball ended up hitting the helmet of Pride. We'll give him credit.
• Keith Kirkwood vs. Ugo Amadi (Carr) - Complete, slant. Physical battle at the line of scrimmage with Kirkwood coming on top.
• Lynn Bowden Jr. vs. Paulson Adebo (Carr) - Complete, curl left. Good coverage and positioning by Adebo, those are hard to defend.
• Michael Thomas vs. Marshon Lattimore (Carr) - Complete, nice release inside for Thomas to make the grab.
• Keke Coutee vs. Alontae Taylor (Haener) - Incomplete, inside curl. Nice job recovering on the play by Taylor.
• Shaq Davis vs. Anthony Johnson (Haener) - Incomplete, intermediate middle. Good throw by Haener, Davis just didn't get it.
• Tre'Quan Smith vs. Isaac Yiadom (Carr) - Complete, back shoulder right side intermediate.
• Bryan Edwards vs. Adrian Frye (Carr) - Incomplete, fade route deep. This would have been a touchdown, but it was off his hands.
• Kawaan Baker vs. Troy Pride (Winston) - Incomplete, middle. Baker was open, but a bad drop.
• A.T. Perry vs. Ugo Amadi (Winston) - Incomplete left. Perry fell on the route.
• Chris Olave vs. Alontae Taylor (Carr) - Incomplete, sideline right. Another good coverage play by Taylor.
• Rashid Shaheed vs. Anthony Johnson (Haener) - Complete, comeback route. Good punch at the end by Johnson.
• Shaq Davis vs. Paulson Adebo (Winston) - Incomplete. Davis slipped on the route.
• Keith Kirkwood vs. Adrian Frye (Winston) - Complete, comeback route.
• Lynn Bowden Jr. vs. Isaac Yiadom (Carr) - Complete, comeback route.
• Rashid Shaheed vs. Anthony Johnson (Carr) - Complete, inside slant. Great stutter step by Shaheed getting off the route. Those are tough to see coming.
• Kawaan Baker vs. Troy Pride (Winston) - Complete, middle inside.
• Shaq Davis vs. Adrian Frye (Winston) - Complete, fade route left. Touchdown.
• Keke Coutee vs. Alontae Taylor (Carr) - Complete, post route middle. Touchdown. Nice double move by Coutee on Taylor.
• A.T. Perry vs. Ugo Amadi (Carr) - Incomplete, sideline left comeback. Perry once again slipped on the route.
• James Washington vs. Isaac Yiadom (Winston) - Complete, post route middle. Touchdown. Easily one of the best plays of the day. It was a little underthrown, and it looked like Yiadom would make the pick. Somehow, Washington got the catch going low and backed in for the touchdown.
• Bryan Edwards vs. Anthony Johnson (Winston) - Incomplete, fade route left.
• Chris Olave vs. Paulson Adebo (Carr) - Complete, comeback route intermediate right.
• A.T. Perry vs. Adrian Frye (Carr) - Incomplete, comeback route left. Looked like Perry got a facemask on the play.
• Tre'Quan Smith vs. Troy Pride (Carr) - Complete, post route middle. Touchdown.
• Michael Thomas vs. Marshon Lattimore (Carr) - Incomplete, inside left slant. Contested rep.
• Lynn Bowden Jr. vs. Alontae Taylor (Winston) - Complete, inside middle intermediate.

QUARTERBACK PERFORMANCE

Here's the breakdown for the quarterbacks on the day.

• Derek Carr: 4-of-5 (7s), 1-of-2, 2-of-3, 1-of-3
• Jameis Winston: 3-of-5 (7s), No passes, 2-of-3, 2-of-3
• Jake Haener: 3-of-5 (7s), 0-of-1, 1-of-1, 3-of-4

7-ON-7: Carr got things going by hitting Michael Thomas for an intermediate gain off the left sideline working against Alontae Taylor. He tried a fade route to Chris Olave on the next play, but they were not on the same page for it. The next play was a hookup to Rashid Shaheed on a crossing route, followed by a nice connection for a good gain to Juwan Johnson with Pete Werner in coverage. Carr's work ended with a nice sideline gain to Chris Olave working against Marshon Lattimore.

Winston's series began with a good intermediate hookup from Rashid Shaheed off the left side. He then had a slant hookup to Keith Kirkwood, but on the next play Zack Baun made a nice play to breakup a pass intended for Lucas Krull. Winston came back to find Tre'Quan Smith on a curl route for a decent gain. The final play was a deep post route that was overthrown to James Washington with Ugo Amadi and Lonnie Johnson Jr. in coverage.

Haener's first pass was incomplete to Tre'Quan Smith on a slant route. Credit Anthony Johnson with a pass breakup there. Haener then found Kirk Merrit out of the backfield for a nicely executed play, and then hit a nice back shoulder hookup to A.T. Perry. Perry went to the ground to get the catch, and it was definitely a good moment for the rookie. The next pass was a drop by Jesse James on an underneath route coming across, and Haener closed things out hitting Lynn Bowden Jr. on a curl.

TEAM SERIES NO. 1: Most of the plays during the first series of team drills were runs, but Carr did attempt a couple of passes here. The defense had some good moments against the run. The first play was a run inside to Jamaal Williams that went for a decent gain. Cesar Ruiz had a terrific block on Demario Davis on the play in which you could hear the pop from the pads. 

Kendre Miller got the next carry inside, which was stopped by Malcolm Roach. Carr hit Michael Thomas on a slant route working against Paulson Adebo for the next play, and then there was a botched snap exchange. The offense regrouped, but D'Marco Jackson had a good run stop on Miller after cutting inside. The final play was a pass attempt to Keke Coutee on a fade route after Carr audibled, but they were not on the same page with the call.

Winston's series didn't see any passes, as the opening play was an outside run with Kirk Merritt. The offense then had a false start in a rough sequence, and they followed that up with a stretch play to Eno Benjamin that Payton Turner stopped for a loss. Jamaal Williams got a handoff inside in which Khalen Saunders made first contact. I did notice Adrian Frye was getting some work in the slot. Lynn Bowden Jr. had a jet sweep play in which Turner had another stop, and then Winston's series ended after Nephi Sewell and Isaac Yiadom made a nice run stop on Kendre Miller.

Haener's first play saw tough run defense again, as Ellis Merriweather was stuffed off the left side. Eno Benjamin tried the outside on the next play, but J.T. Gray made a good play. This was the play where Andrew Dowell came up limping and got hurt being around the tackle. Kirk Merritt broke up the bad luck in the run department with a nice inside run, and Haener's lone pass was a deep fade route attempt to A.T. Perry that was underthrown.

TEAM SERIES NO. 2: Carr went to Michael Thomas to start things off again on a slant route working against Adebo. He went to Jamaal Williams in the flats on the next play, and Demario Davis had a nice hit on him on the play to force a minimal gain. Carr tried Thomas again on a deep sideline hookup that went incomplete. It was a floating a little bit, but just couldn't fall. Kendre Miller got a handoff on the next play with a Tanoh Kpassagnon run stop. Williams got the next run attempt, which was once against stopped by Payton Turner.

Winston came out throwing on his first play, hitting Chris Olave on a curl route working against Anthony Johnson. It was pretty good coverage by him. Winston tried a back shoulder to Michael Thomas on the next play that was dropped at the end. He had it, but just couldn't hold on at the very end. Jamaal Williams had an inside run on the next play that Nathan Shepherd stopped. The next play was an outside run with Ellis Merriweather, and on it there was a little exchange between Lonnie Johnson Jr. and A.T. Perry, but cooler heads prevailed.  The final play was a crossing route hookup to Olave working against Troy Pride in which he was all alone on the play over the middle.

Haener's reps started with a short inside run to Eno Benjamin. His lone pass was completed to Ellis Merriweather in the flats after he chipped Tanoh Kpassagnon in the process. Ryan Connelly was in coverage on the play. Kirk Merritt had a run on the next play, and then Haener took off running on the following play with Prince Emili in pursuit. Benjamin got another carry, with Ty Summers and Anfernee Orji there to stop it.

TEAM SERIES NO. 3: The final series for Carr had him start with a swing play to Kirk Merritt out of the backfield. He kept the ball and ran right on the next play. It was unclear if it was by design or due to pressure from our vantage point. Carr tried Michael Thomas on a deep crosser that didn't hit, as Carl Granderson provided the pressure. Bryan Bresee had a nice pressure on the final play to help force an incompletion. Carr stepped up and his pass fell to the ground. Juwan Johnson was the nearest player, and it was nearly picked off by Pete Werner. 

Jerron Cage had a nice run tackle for loss on Kendre Miller during the first play with Winston under center. He came back to hit Juwan Johnson on a crossing route for a strong gain, and then connected with Lucas Krull on an eerily similar play. His final pass was a pick from Troy Pride intended to A.T. Perry. It wasn't a great throw by Winston.

Haener's final work saw him try a deep pass attempt to Kawaan Baker up the seam working against Jordan Howden. He had him, but it looked like Baker might have slowed up on the route or wasn't expecting it. He came back to hit Lynn Bowden Jr. over the middle. He either dropped the ball or it was punched out by an unclear defender, but the offense recovered. Haener scrambled out of the pocket on the next play to execute a shovel pass to Rashid Shaheed, but it also looked like he was dangerously close to the line of scrimmage. The final connection in team drills was a wide receiver screen to Bryan Edwards for a short gain.

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS AND NOTES

• As you noticed from reading over the 1-on-1's, there were a lot more slips today on the field. Definitely not something we're used to seeing a lot.
• Getting wrapped up in daily results for Derek Carr is something I would probably not stress right now. One of the things he has said is that practice is about taking chances and trying different things. We're not in a quarterback battle, but just something worth reiterating.
• It's clear that the offense is trying to get Michael Thomas going. We keep waiting to see that one big play that hits, and we've only been teased with it so far. Thomas has looked good, and it's only a matter of time before they pay off.
• The defense definitely looked good on the day, but there were a couple of sloppy plays offensively today. False starts, drops, and slips were some of the things we witnessed. Better to see those now.
• Kendre Miller is looking a lot more comfortable in his routes. He's learning a lot from Alvin Kamara, who he said after practice has taken him under his wing.
• Payton Turner keeps flashing every day. I know there's a lot of doubters right now, and I understand that. My biggest thing is seeing if it happens on game day. He's really playing with a lot of confidence right now, and it shows.
• Tyrann Mathieu was among the group of normal punt returners today, with Keke Coutee, Rashid Shaheed, Chris Olave, and Lynn Bowden Jr.
• Jane Slater of NFL Network was in attendance today.