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Saints Camp: Day 2 Practice Notes and Observations

The fans got their first look at the Saints on Friday, with the team moving practice outdoors. Here's what we saw.

John Hendrix

Day 2 of Saints training camp is in the books, as New Orleans spent their time outside with fans being able to get their first glimpse of the team. Here's all the notes and observations from Friday's session, and be sure to check out what went down on Thursday if you haven't already.

Attendance

Grant Haley, who missed yesterday's session due to a personal reason, was not present today. Also, Dylan Soehner was not in attendance. P.J. Williams, Derrick Kelly II, and Wil Lutz were all present.

Transactions

New Orleans signed Tommylee Lewis to the active roster after a tryout on Thursday.

Quarterback Breakdown

Taysom Hill took reps as the starter today, and Sean Payton said after practice that the team is working on installs. We could see the rotation swap tomorrow to Jameis Winston.

Hill missed on his first pass intended for Marquez Callaway. It looked like the right route was ran, but Hill misfired. Two plays later, he hit Callaway over the middle from shotgun formation. He did a great job stepping up in the pocket to avoid the rush. 

During the final session, Hill would have taken a sack to Marcus Davenport, but didn't miss on any of his passes that included Adam Trautman (left middle), Deonte Harris (middle), Alvin Kamara (left short in the flats), and Deonte Harris (short right). One of the things I saw was both Alex Armah and Alvin Kamara lining up in a two-back set on Hill's side.

For Winston, he was pretty perfect on the day. His first pass in 11-on-11 was a connection to Deonte Harris over the middle. He did a great job finding the soft spot in the coverage. On the next play, James Hurst was beat by Noah Spence off the edge for a sack.

Winston connected with Chris Hogan, who made a great adjustment on the ball by leaping in the air to secure the throw. Hogan has a good day of camp, shining on several catches. Winston's lone incompletion was intended for Jalen McCleskey, but that wasn't on him. It could have either went as pass interference on Ken Crawley or McCleskey tripping. 

Don't overblow this take here, but Trevor Siemian hit Ethan Wolf on a deep right shot. Wolf is one of the tights ends who attended George Kittle's Tight End University recently. Sieman dropped a snap on one of his reps, and was sacked by Carl Granderson.

Saints training camp, Day 2
Saints training camp, Day 2 / Jul 30, 2021; Metairie, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints defensive end Payton Turner (98), defensive end Tanoh Kpassagnon (90) and linebacker Marcus Willoughby (59) work on stretching 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 primarily worked out of nickel formation and three wide receiver sets today.

  • QB: Taysom Hill
  • RB: Alvin Kamara
  • WR: Marquez Callaway, Deonte Harris (slot), Tre'Quan Smith
  • TE: Adam Trautman
  • OL: Terron Armstead, Andrus Peat, Erik McCoy, Cesar Ruiz, Ryan Ramczyk

Here's what the defense looked like. 

  • DE: Tanoh Kpassagnon, Marcus Davenport
  • DT: David Onyemata, Shy Tuttle
  • LB: Demario Davis, Pete Werner
  • CB: Patrick Robinson (left), Marshon Lattimore (right), C.J. Gardner-Johnson (slot)
  • S: Marcus Williams, Malcolm Jenkins

Defensive notes: Zack Baun and Chase Hansen (also Kaden Elliss) were the secondary pairing at linebacker, with Brian Poole playing the slot. Payton Turner and Carl Granderson rotated in as the second-team defensive ends, Albert Huggins and Christian Ringo got some work at defensive tackle.

Rhythm, Flow, and Observations

In addition to nickel formation and three wide receiver sets, New Orleans worked on position specific drills. Quarterbacks first worked with running backs in basic handoffs and short routes, and then added receivers to the mix. 11-on-11 drills came, which saw the quarterbacks throw some passes against the defense. 

They operated out of all different personnel packages, and included some extensive punt work. The team was simulating getting off blocks. Practice ended with 11-on-11 drills again, taking place around their own 45-yard-line.

Nolan Cooney handled the punt duties for the Saints, and he was inconsistent. He hit some wobblers, but then boomed several punts with great hang times. Cooney and the punt team started at the 5-yard-line and then worked their way up in 5-yard increments. J.T. Gray and Marquez Callaway were the main gunners. 

Pass Rush: I charted two Carl Granderson sacks, with one on Winston and one on Siemian. Marcus Davenport also had a sack on Hill, while Noah Spence sacked Winston. The team's pass rushers stand out at times for their length and strength.

Jalen Dalton had some really good reps at defensive tackle. He had a strong run stop after being able to shoot through the gap to force a loss.

Saturday's practice session is outdoors, with fans being in attendance again. It was good to see so many, and it could be packed tomorrow.

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John Hendrix
JOHN HENDRIX

I officially started covering the New Orleans Saints & other NFL topics in 2011. My work has been featured on various outlets over the years. I worked closely with Skyhorse Publishing in Fall 2018 to update the book, Tales From the New Orleans Saints Sidelines, which filled in all Saints material from the 2013-2017 seasons. Prior to joining Saints News Network, I served as the Managing Editor of SB Nation's Canal Street Chronicles for 3.5 years, and before that with FanSided's Who Dat Dish as the Managing Editor for several years. I have also had experiences of being a freelance Saints reporter for The Sun Herald in Biloxi, MS and a contributing writer for WDSU, a local NBC TV station in New Orleans. I have appeared on a vast amount of TV and Radio shows, both nationally and locally. For tips, comments, or suggestions, please contact me at johnhendrix@saintsnews.net

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