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Saints Training Camp: Notes and Observations from Day 5

The Saints held their first padded practice of training camp on Monday, and it gave us plenty to talk about.

John Hendrix

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Day 5 of Saints training camp is in the books after the team initially started the first portion of practice inside for 30 minutes and then moved outside to complete it. It was the team's first padded session, and delivered a lot to fans and the media. Here's our notes and observations from Monday.

Camp Recaps: Day 4 | Day 3 | Day 2 | Day 1

Notes and Observations

ATTENDANCE: Among those not spotted at practice were Taysom Hill, Tyrann Mathieu, and Marcus Davenport. Dennis Allen said after practice that they're allowing Mathieu to handle what he needs to and the team will welcome him back with 'open arms' when he's ready to return.

Pete Werner officially made his return from NFI and was out there participating in walkthroughs. Juwan Johnson and Bryce Thompson also returned. Both Werner and Johnson were doing some individual work throughout practice, and Rashid Shaheed made a late appearance doing the same. All were dressed out in pads.

Michael Thomas was back out there after having a veteran day of rest on Saturday. Alvin Kamara was also out at practice, and we later learned that his court hearing got pushed back another two months.

OFFENSIVE WALKTHROUGH NOTES: Landon Young was once again getting work at right tackle, and the other cast of characters on the offensive line were the normal rotation of James Hurst, Andrus Peat, Erick McCoy, and Cesar Ruiz. Ryan Ramczyk was around during this portion, and would later take starting reps in team drills.

Among those in rotation with the first team included Alvin Kamara, Michael Thomas, Adam Prentice, Chris Olave, Marquez Callaway, Adam Trautman, Deonte Harty, Kevin White, Mark Ingram, Tony Jones Jr., Jarvis Landry, and Tre'Quan Smith.

DEFENSIVE WALKTHROUGH NOTES: The Saints went with a traditional 4-3 look today with little surprises. The defensive line had Cam Jordan, David Onyemata, Shy Tuttle, and Carl Granderson, with Pete Werner, Demario Davis, and Kaden Elliss at linebacker. Marshon Lattimore and Paulson Adebo were at corner, and P.J. Williams and Marcus Maye were at safety.

Subs included Zack Baun, C.J. Gardner-Johnson, Bradley Roby, Kentavius Street, Tanoh Kpassagnon, and Taco Charlton. As we moved into team drills, Payton Turner went opposite of Cam Jordan.

BRIEF SCARE: Jarvis Landry looked to be favoring his ankle after opening up 1-on-1 drills against Paulson Adebo. He never left practice and did return for a memorable rep that saw him juke Bradley Roby to get an inside catch.

1-ON-1 NOTES: This was the first time we got to see this drill this season, and it really didn't disappoint. Jameis Winston struggled a little here hitting some of the receivers with some low throws and passes that were off the mark. Credit the corners for getting some pass breakups. Alontae Taylor had some good moments here as well.

The best play came from DaMarcus Fields, who has some strong coverage on Kevin White on a deep left sideline route. It looked like White was going to catch it, but somehow Fields made the pick. There was another play where Chris Olave made a great adjustment to catch a Winston pass one-handed, but it was out of bounds.

11-ON-11: The first period of team drills saw Jameis Winston go 0-for-2, with the first pass intended for Jarvis Landry broken up by Paulson Adebo. He had a waggle on the next play, which missed Chris Olave. Cam Jordan provided the pressure. Carl Granderson also made a great play to close out the first series with a tackle for loss on Abram Smith.

Andy Dalton also went 0-for-2. Kevin White went up high to get the first pass attempt, and still almost got the catch after landing hard, but was also out of bounds. The second attempt was incomplete to Marquez Callaway, but he would have been sacked by Taco Charlton. 

Ian Book got the lone completion of this series, going 1-for-2. His incompletion was overthrown deep left to Dai'Jean Dixon. His one connection was a nice one to Lucas Krull after rolling right off play action.

The second and final team series saw Jameis Winston rebound to hit all of his passes and go 4-for-4. He hit passes to J.P. Holtz, Alvin Kamara, Deonte Harty, and Adam Trautman. 

Andy Dalton went 2-for-4, but three plays would have led to sacks for Scott Patchan and Taco Charlton. His first attempt went to Chris Olave with Alontae Taylor in coverage, who had it but lost it. 

Ian Book went 3-for-4, and ended practice getting picked by Justin Evans on a ball that probably shouldn't have been thrown.

PHYSICAL TONE: The pads came on today, and didn't disappoint with the physical action. There were certainly some spirited moments, and some of the hits came out. Demario Davis and Smoke Monday were among those who stood out here. 

BLAKE GILLIKIN BOOTS: He looks great out there, having several punts land inside the 5 consecutively. It's hard to think this time last year we thought we'd have some type of competition. Gillikin looks solid.

ADEBO IS READY: If the season started tomorrow and you had any doubts about it, then look no more. You can go ahead and lock Paulson Adebo opposite of Marshon Lattimore. He looked great out there, was extremely physical, and is playing with with an extreme amount of confidence. In 1-on-1's, he got a few pass breakups and went 2-of-3 going against Jarvis Landry, Tre'Quan Smith, and Chris Olave. Only Smith had a catch on an inside route. 

Adebo also flashed in 11-on-11 with a pass breakup on Winston. Anything you get against Adebo is going to be earned.

PENNING'S TOUGH DAY: If you want to talk about trial by fire or being thrown to the wolves, that could about sum up the day for Trevor Penning. Again, remember that it's just the first day in pads, but Penning had a really tough practice. He was beat by Carl Granderson, Taco Charlton, and Payton Turner. After one play, he and Turner had a little bit of extracurricular activity, but it didn't lead to anything.

MATT RHEA: This is becoming more of a focal point that can't be ignored. Players are talking more about the impact it's making having Matt Rhea around. We've seen a lot more of them after practice working indoors alongside him. Rashid Shaheed was one specific player to point out from this. Players are doing conditioning drills afterwards, and the hope is that it leads to less soft tissue injuries.

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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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