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Saints Training Camp: Notes and Observations from Day 10

Week 2 of Saints training camp is in the books after the team's practice on Saturday. Here's a closer look at what happened on Day 10.

John Hendrix

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Saturday wrapped up Saints training camp practice for the week, with a full force of fans out in attendance for today's session. Unfortunately, not long after the team went outside from being indoors, a lighting alert happened and moved them back for the remainder of practice. Here's what went down on Day 10 with our notes and observations.

CAMP RECAPS: Day 9 | Day 8 | Day 7 | Day 6 | Day 5 | Day 4 | Day 3 | Day 2 | Day 1

ATTENDANCE: The Saints were without C.J. Gardner-Johnson, Marshon Lattimore, Kiko Alonso, Dylan Mabin, Kiko Alonso, D'Marco Jackson, Zack Baun, Jerald Hawkins, and Jaleel Johnson.

Dennis Allen revealed after practice that Gardner-Johnson is dealing with a family-related matter, and that he's been excused from practice. The team expects him back Monday. Quenton Meeks joined the team today, wearing No. 43 after a successful tryout.

Marcus Davenport was inside doing some rehab, and it's the most we've seen him around today. Ryan Nielsen said after practice that he'll be back when he's supposed to be back, and that he's doing everything that's been asked of him. 

Taysom Hill was spotted outdoors doing some work. We pointed out the other day that he looks like he's bulked up a good bit. No pads for him today, but he looks like he's getting closer every time we see him. Rashid Shaheed was also spotted again in pads, doing some individual work inside.

FAN ATTENDANCE TIDBIT: Those fans who had to leave early due to the weather are able to use today's ticket on Aug. 8, Aug. 10, or Aug. 11. There's also a practice in the Superdome coming, and tickets can be claimed starting Monday, Aug. 8 at 9:00 a.m. I'm told the team anticipates around 30,000, as the lower bowls will be used.

LINEBACKER HELP NEEDED: We later learned after practice that Kiko Alonso retired after just being signed and appearing at practice Friday. Zack Baun left practice early on Friday, and did not return. The Saints were down three linebackers today, so expect some workouts to happen sooner rather than later and a potential signing or two.

TEAM DRILLS PROGRESS: Both Tyrann Mathieu and Michael Thomas participated in team drills today for the first time in training camp. Dennis Allen said that there was a ramp up period for both, and that Thomas in particular was close. This is very encouraging news, particularly for Thomas. He was active, even going to the ground in some of the reps.

OFFENSIVE WALKTHROUGH NOTES: It feels like an echo, but Landon Young again was getting primary snaps at right tackle. Again, this is part of a maintenance plan by the team to help limit some of Ryan Ramczyk's snaps. James Hurst, Andrus Peat, Erik McCoy, and Cesar Ruiz were the other lineman during walkthroughs.

Rotational players and subs included Adam Prentice, Michael Thomas, Chris Olave, Alvin Kamara, Nick Vannett, Juwan Johnson, Mark Ingram, Jarvis Landry, Malcolm Brown, Kevin White, Tre'Quan Smith, Adam Trautman, and Deonte Harty.

DEFENSIVE WALKTHROUGH NOTES: The Saints were in their base defense, with no changes from yesterday's look. Cam Jordan, Shy Tuttle, David Onyemata, and Carl Granderson anchored the defensive line, with Kaden Elliss, Pete Werner, and Demario Davis at linebacker. Paulson Adebo and Bradley Roby were at corner, with Marcus Maye and Tyrann Mathieu at safety.

Subs included Kentavius Street, Malcolm Roach, Taco Charlton, Eric Wilson, Tanoh Kpassagnon, Alontae Taylor, and P.J. Williams.

1-ON-1 HIGHLIGHTS: This gave us some really good highlights today, although not much of it was able to be filmed due to the outside to inside transition. The wide receivers had a spectacular day here, going 11-1 during this drill. We'll hit on the big ones, as all passes were thrown by Andy Dalton.

  • Tre'Quan Smith vs. Vincent Gray - Inside post route that saw Smith juke Gray and get into the end zone.
  • Dai'Jean Dixon vs. DaMarcus Fields - Backshoulder throw that was perfect and was an even better catch from Dixon.
  • Chris Olave vs. Paulson Adebo - Deep fade route right for a touchdown. Another great throw from Dalton.
  • Marquez Callaway vs. DaMarcus Fields - Another backshoulder hookup, this one on the right side for a score.
  • Deonte Harty vs. Vincent Gray - Touchdown on a fade route, precision throw from Dalton. Harty had a couple steps on Gray.
  • Kevin White vs. Bradley Roby - This was the play of the day, as White went up to get this one for a touchdown. White is someone who has had a very mixed bag at camp, so this was a good showing from him.

7-ON-7 NOTES: Jameis Winston finished 4-of-4 to open, as the team was working specifically in the red zone, something that Dennis Allen said was coming today. Perhaps the biggest element to appreciate here is that the first two plays were swing passes to Alvin Kamara and Mark Ingram, and the third was to Kamara near the goal line. 

Winston has said more than a few times that he's wanting to work on utilizing the running backs more, something that he picked up a lot on from Drew Brees, and it's been showing more at practice. Winston closed things out by finding a wide open Jarvis Landry in the back of the end zone from the 4-yard-line.

Andy Dalton finished 2-of-4, hitting his first pass to Chris Olave who was able to slip under the coverage and get a comeback route. He'd find Landry on a curl on the next play, but the defense held tall on the final two plays, getting a pass breakup from Kaden Elliss on Tre'Quan Smith, and then Quenton Meeks working against Michael Thomas to help negate a score. That play may have drawn a flag for a hold, however.

Ian Book just got two reps. Both were passes and saw him go 1-of-2. He hit Deonte Harty on a short underneath route, and then tried Dwayne Washington near the 2-yard-line that was broken up by Andrew Dowell.

11-ON-11 NOTES: The first drill saw the team working on the opposite side of the field, starting at their own 25-yard-line. This team drill is where we saw Thomas and Mathieu both participating. Winston finished 2-of-2, hitting Michael Thomas to start on a slant route, and then hitting a big gain near the sideline to Chris Olave, who was wide open to make the grab. Mark Ingram rattled off a nice run off the left side on the final play.

Andy Dalton didn't throw any passes during his series. Alvin Kamara started things with a nice run off the right side with Landon Young and Calvin Throckmorton in. Abram Smith followed that up with a good run on a stretch play inside. Dwayne Washington got the final carry, but Payton Turner had the run stop for a minimal gain.

Ian Book didn't throw any passes here either. Malcolm Brown had a short run to open it, followed by a designed keeper to the left side by Book that Payton Turner stopped. Devine Ozigbo didn't find much success on his rep either, as Albert Huggins and Nephi Sewell combined for the stop inside. Josh Black closed things out by having another stop on Book, that might have went down as a sack.

The second set of drills in team gave us plenty of good things. Jameis Winston went 2-of-3 here, as the first pass to Michael Thomas on the backshoulder player was broken up by Paulson Adebo. Winston targeted Adebo again near the right sideline, this time hooking up with Chris Olave for a good intermediate gain near the sideline. The final play saw Michael Thomas catch a slant route working against Adebo, but Bradley Roby forced a fumble on it that Tyrann Mathieu recovered.

Andy Dalton finished 3-of-3, hitting Tony Jones Jr. on a swing route to the left to start. He hooked up with Juwan Johnson on the next play in the flats, who put a good move on Isaiah Pryor to get more yardage. Chris Olave caught the next one on a quick pass to the right, getting some YAC in the process.

Ian Book had four reps here, finishing 2-of-4. His third play was an incompletion to Kawaan Baker, but likely would have went down as a sack. His first pass was a hookup to Michael Thomas on a curl route, and then Eric Wilson had a pass breakup on Juwan Johnson for the second play. Things closed out with a curl route hookup to Dai'Jean Dixon on the left side.

The final portion of team drills went back to focus on red zone work inside the 15-yard-line. Jameis Winston went 1-of-2, connecting with Dwayne Washington in the flats on his first play. The second play was an incompletion to Adam Trautman with Adebo in coverage. Tony Jones Jr. was stopped quickly by Cam Jordan on the third play from the 5-yard-line, and Dwayne Washington had a touchdown on the final play from the 3-yard-line.

Dalton went 1-of-2 in his last action. Things were rough to start, as Taco Charlton bested Trevor Penning for a sack. The offense responded, with Dalton hitting Devine Ozigbo on an angle range from the 9-yard-line for the second play. Payton Turner blew up a screen play working against Penning that saw Dalton throw the pass into the ground. Malcolm Brown closed things out from the 5-yard-line with an inside zone rush for a score.

Book's final series of the day saw him finish 1-of-3. He missed Abram Smith on the left side, throwing the pass into the ground with Andrew Dowell in coverage. The second play would have went to Payton Turner as a sack, but as it went along, Juwan Johnson just missed out on having a big touchdown catch on the right side. He came back on the next play to get a slant from Book, as Quenton Meeks nearly picked it off. The final play of team drills saw Abram Smith take it into the end zone on a draw play.

SPECIAL TEAMS NOTES: John Parker Romo handled all the kicks today, and he went a perfect 6-for-6. It'll be interesting to see if he handles kickoff duties when we see the team play their preseason game against the Texans in a week.

Blake Gillikin had some nice punts, as the team was working on downing inside the 5-yard-line. Marquez Callaway, Alontae Taylor, and Kirk Merritt made really good downs on their reps, and Gillikin had a perfect boot that went to the corner and bounced back out-of-bounds at the 3-yard-line. 

Kickoff return work saw Deonte Harty, Tony Jones Jr, Easop Winston Jr., and Chris Olave all fielding returns. 

CLEARING THE AIR: Payton Turner talked to us following practice for the first time since the dustup with Trevor Penning that went viral. Turner said it's no big deal, however, and that it's an aspect of learning to practice with your teammates and him playing hard.

Turner said, "We're just compete. That's how it gets out here, especially in pads, especially in the trenches. Everybody knows that. Camp's long. Camp's hard. Camp's physical. So, it's just nothing big, just two guys competing. Nothing big."

The Saints will have the day off on Sunday, and will be back on Monday for practice No. 11. Oh by the way, we have a preseason game to hype up too.

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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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