Saints Camp: Day 3 Practice Notes and Observations

Saturday's Saints training camp practice brought a lot to the table, and we give our notes and observations from the outdoor session.

John Hendrix | Jul 31, 2021

The Saints had their third straight practice of training camp and second one open to fans on Saturday. There was a lot to unpack from the practice session, and we give you a full rundown of our observations here. Be sure to check out what happened on Thursday and Friday.

Attendance

Tommylee Lewis, Patrick Robinson (personal absence, excused), Grant Haley, and Dylan Soehner were among those missing in Saturday's practice.

Quarterback Teaser

Jameis Winston took the starting reps, and this was something Sean Payton alluded to during his Friday press conference. His first outing went pretty rough, to say the least. There were no turnovers, but a lot more incompletions today.

Winston missed deep right on his first pass, intended to Lil'Jordan Humphrey. He had a good pocket to make the throw.

Taysom Hill's first pass was a pretty deep throw to Easop Winston Jr. It was just drill work, but it was still worth noting how throws look from him and Winston.

Ian Book got the third spot on the quarterback rotation, his first throw was to Chris Hogan, who made a good effort to secure the catch on the sideline that got a good reaction from the fans.

More breakdowns on the quarterbacks will be below.

Jameis Winston took starting reps on Saturday / Jul 31, 2021; Metairie, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints quarterback Jameis Winston (2) performs offensive drills during a New Orleans Saints training camp session at the New Orleans Saints Training Facility. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-USA TODAY Sports

Starting Rotation and Notes

New Orleans rolled back into their traditional setup for today's practice. The offense looked familiar, with James Hurst rotating in some to play with the first team at right tackle.

QB: Jameis Winston
RB: Alvin Kamara
FB: Alex Armah
WR: Marquez Callaway, Tre'Quan Smith
TE: Adam Trautman
OL: Terron Armstead, Andrus Peat, Erik McCoy, Cesar Ruiz, Ryan Ramczyk

The defense went back to a base 4-3 alignment for Saturday, with a new face at corner due to Robinson being out.

DE: Cam Jordan, Marcus Davenport
DT: David Onyemata, Shy Tuttle
LB: Zack Baun, Demario Davis, Kaden Elliss
CB: Marshon Lattimore (left), Ken Crawley (right)
S: Marcus Williams, Malcolm Jenkins

Defensive line had Tanoh Kpassagnon and Payton Turner at edge, with Jalen Dalton and Malcolm Roach playing inside. Pete Werner rotated in for Zack Baun as well.

1-On-1 Drills

Here's everything I charted from each quarterback, receiver, and defender in 1-on-1 drills that also has some notes on the battle.

Taysom Hill (3/5)

Right Side: Tre'Quan Smith vs. Ken Crawley, incomplete - PBU (ball hung up some)
Left Side: Marquez Callaway vs. Marshon Lattimore, complete - inside slant
Left Side: Lil'Jordan Humphrey vs. Brian Poole, incomplete - sideline right
Right Side: Jalen McCleskey vs. Malcolm Jenkins, complete - left sideline
Right Side: Ty Montgomery vs. Paulson Adebo, complete - inside route

Trevor Siemian (3/3)

Right Side: Deonte Harris vs. C.J. Gardner-Johnson, complete - inside slant
Left Side: Chris Hogan vs. Keith Washington Jr., complete - comeback route (good catch by Hogan)
Right Side: Ty Montgomery vs. Paulson Adebo, complete - deep right (good adjustment by Montgomery to secure it)

Ian Book (2/3)

Left Side: Jake Lampman vs. Brian Poole, incomplete - PBU
Right Side: Easop Winston Jr. vs. Malcolm Jenkins - complete, inside route
Right Side: Jake Lampman vs. Brian Poole, complete sideline right (good coverage, Lampman celebrated afterwards with the crowd from a distance)

Jameis Winston (3/7)

Right Side: Jalen McCleskey vs. Keith Washington Jr., incomplete - deep right end zone (drop)
Left Side: Kawaan Baker vs. Lawrence Woods, complete - comeback route short
Right Side: Marquez Callaway vs. Marshon Lattimore, incomplete - PBU deep right (great job by Lattimore adjusting)
Left Side: Tre'Quan Smith vs. Ken Crawley, incomplete - end zone shot, looked like it could have been holding
Left Side: Lil'Jordan Humphrey vs. Keith Washington Jr., complete (inside slant)
Right Side: Deonte Harris vs. C.J. Gardner-Johnson, complete (deep right, end zone TD)
Right Side: Chris Hogan vs. Keith Washington Jr., incomplete deep right

11-on-11 Work

Here's how the quarterbacks performed in throws in 11-on-11 drills from their own 38-yard-line.

Jameis Winston (1/4)

Lil'Jordan Humphrey, complete short middle (Lattimore)
Alvin Kamara, incomplete short right (Werner) - looked like a misfire
Tre'Quan Smith, incomplete sideline (Crawley) - Smith slipped, good blitz pickup by Latavius Murray on Lattimore
Deonte Harris, incomplete deep middle (Williams, Crawley) - I'd credit Tanoh Kpassagnon with a sack

Taysom Hill (4/5)

Tre'Quan Smith, complete short right (Paulson Adebo)
Deonte Harris, complete short crosser from right to left (Adebo) - Hill was blitzed on the play and made the throw on his back foot
Marquez Callaway, complete sideline right deep (Adebo)
Tony Jones Jr., incomplete screen attempt
Tony Jones Jr., complete sideline left (Payton Turner had a really good pressure working against Hurst)

Ian Book (0/2)

Easop Winston Jr., incomplete short right - low throw
Ty Montgomery, incomplete short right - bobble

Trevor Siemian (1/2)

Stevie Scott III, complete short right - Carl Granderson with a good pressure
Tony Jones Jr., incomplete - Andrew Dowell with the PBU

Saints WR Marquez Callaway — CREDIT: Kyle T. Mosley, Saints News Network

WR Jalen McCleskey — Credit: Kyle T. Mosley, Saints News Network

Rhythm, Flow, and Observations

New Orleans did some quarterback-running back drills after basic alignments and stretching, and then it went to quarterback-wide receiver work similar to the last two sessions. The tight ends joined up with the back and receivers for more drills.

The Saints were working on swing passes out of the backfield, with receivers getting in some sideline work after running in motion. The defense was working on position group drills, with the defensive backs and linebackers working together. There were also some drills for intentional safety and run out the clock situations in which the passer throws back to a receiver on their own 25-yard-line.

Alvin Kamara was wearing No. 6 today, which is actually slated to go to Tommylee Lewis. It was all in good fun, so you can rest easy knowing he isn't about to change his jersey number. Marquez Callaway's jersey number swap to No. 1 did happen.

In 11-on-11 drills from the 33-yard-line, Winston's first pass was incomplete to Tre'Quan Smith deep right. Ken Crawley was in coverage, and it looked like it might have been caught and there were some holding going on. Those plays, as we know, can go either way.

In the same sequence, Nick Vannett had two false start penalties in a four-play span. He also had the ball stripped from him at the end of the play, which Marshon Lattimore recovered. Vannett would have likely been stopped well before, but the defense is taught to continuously go after the ball and got it.

Hill was true on his two pass attempts, which connected with Kawaan Baker in the left flats and then a deep left shot to Lil'Jordan Humphrey. However, on that second hookup, Will Clapp would have got a hold because Jalen Dalton likely would have got the sack on him.

This is the second day in a row that Trevor Siemian and backup center Christian Montano have had a bad exchange.

Stock Watch: Jalen Dalton has been flashing a good bit on the interior, while Jalen McCleskey and Juwan Johnson are some to keep an eye on. We talked about Dalton previously as one to watch, and so far he's been a strong presence.

Punter Battle: Blake Gillikin had an outstanding day. He was booming punts in a similar drill that Nolan Cooney did on Friday with 5-yard increments starting from the 3-yard-line. Sean Payton said after practice that Cooney's reps were more like a home run or strikeout, whereas Gillikin was consistent and strong in his reps. One of the things I saw on Gillikin's 11 punts was that of those, six times the returner had to backpedal. He had good hangtime to go along with a strong leg.

No practice is scheduled for Sunday, so we will be back on Monday with more coverage.