Saints Training Camp: Notes and Observations from Day 11

The Saints got some key players back at training camp on Day 11. Get in the know with all of our notes, thoughts, and observations from Monday's practice.

John Hendrix | Aug 8, 2022

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New Orleans Saints

After a day off for everyone, the Saints were back at it on Monday. We have a preseason game to look forward to on Saturday, so things are only going to escalate from here. The team started practice indoors and came outside to work despite a steady downpour. The rain slacked up a bit, but it wasn't long before we got a lightning alert and things moved indoors for the rest of the session. Here's all of our notes and observations from Day 11 of training camp.

CAMP RECAPS: Day 10 | Day 9 | Day 8 | Day 7 | Day 6 | Day 5 | Day 4 | Day 3 | Day 2 | Day 1

JAMEIS WINSTON LEAVES EARLY: Jameis Winston left practice early, apparently getting injured during 7-on-7 drills. Dennis Allen said on air to NFL Live that he rolled his ankle a little bit and that the team brought him for an evaluation. However, in his press conference, we were told it was a tweaked foot, and that's the official word. Winston was present for the first period of team drills, which came after 7-on-7 and a special teams drill. We'll have to see what happens here.

ATTENDANCE: Taysom Hill and C.J. Gardner-Johnson returned to practice on Monday, with Gardner-Johnson participating in team drills. Hill was working exclusively with the tight end group. He was one of three players who left practice early, however. Kentavius Street was the other.

Among those not spotted today included D'Marco Jackson, Zack Baun, and Jaleel Johnson. Rashid Shaheed practiced today for the first time and looked pretty good. Marshon Lattimore and Dylan Mabin were doing individual work with trainers, and Marcus Davenport was spotted inside. He actually hung out with the defensive line during the final team portion.

Chase Hansen (No. 40) and Jordan Brown (No. 38) were new additions out there, although Hansen has been with the team before.

OFFENSIVE WALKTHROUGH NOTES: Again, no real surprises here. Landon Young was taking the reps here, but Ryan Ramczyk was in during team drills. The familiar cast of characters included James Hurst, Andrus Peat, Erik McCoy, and Cesar Ruiz along the line. Rotational players and subs included Michael Thomas, Mark Ingram, Jarvis Landry, Adam Trautman, Chris Olave, Alvin Kamara, Juwan Johnson, Deonte Harty, Adam Prentice, Tre'Quan Smith, Kevin White, Tayom Hill, Dwayne Washington, and Marquez Callaway.

DEFENSIVE WALKTHROUGH NOTES: The Saints had a three-man rush look, with Cam Jordan, David Onyemata, and Carl Granderson along the defensive line. Demario Davis and Pete Werner were at linebacker, with Paulson Adebo and Alontae Taylor at corner. Bradley Roby was in the slot, with P.J. Williams, Marcus Maye, and Tyrann Mathieu at safety. Subs included Kentavius Street, Malcolm Roach, Tanoh Kpassagnon, Taco Charlton, and Chase Hansen.

OFFICIALS OUT: Carl Cheffers and his crew were out at practice, which helped give a bit more assistance with one-on-one reps and such in terms to potential flags. There's a good bit of things that help the club out while they're here for a few days.

1-ON-1 HIGHLIGHTS: We saw 24 reps here, and the receivers finished 13-11. These were the most memorable reps.

Michael Thomas vs. Paulson Adebo - Jameis Winston tried a deep right sideline hookup, but Adebo had the pass breakup.
Tre'Quan Smith vs. C.J. Gardner-Johnson - First time we've seen Ceedy Duce go in this session, and Smith got the best of him on a deep post route for a touchdown from Andy Dalton.
Deonte Harty vs. C.J. Gardner-Johnson - Dalton tried the deep left sideline, but it was good coverage by Gardner-Johnson as the throw went out of bounds.
Michael Thomas vs. Paulson Adebo - Thomas got this one on Adebo near the right sideline. It was a good catch by Thomas from Dalton.
Alontae Taylor vs. Easop Winston Jr. - Taylor had a pass breakup against Dalton over the middle, as he nearly picked it off.
Tre'Quan Smith vs. Bradley Roby - Nice pass breakup by Roby on the curl route from Dalton.
Kirk Merritt vs. Quenton Meeks - Winston hit Merritt in stride deep down the right sideline for the score.
Tre'Quan Smith vs. C.J. Gardner-Johnson - Fade route from Winston on the left side for a touchdown.
Michael Thomas vs. Paulson Adebo - Another pass breakup for Adebo on an inside route.

7-ON-7 NOTES: Jameis Winston finished 4-of-4, while Andy Dalton and Ian Book both went 3-of-4. The Saints defense rolled out Paulson Adebo, Bradley Roby, Tyrann Mathieu, Demario Davis, Pete Werner, Marcus Maye, and Alontae Taylor. P.J. Williams and Kaden Elliss were subs.

The second Winston pass saw Elliss with the pass breakup, but the ball ended up tipping up into the hands of Chris Olave for the catch near the sideline. It was fun to see Mickey Loomis react to it right in front of him indicated it was a catch.

Dalton's lone incompletion was due to a Tre'Quan Smith drop over the middle on a crossing route. His third play saw him find a wide open Michael Thomas on a crosser with Daniel Sorensen being the closest player. The other receptions were from Juwan Johnson and Devine Ozigbo.

Book's incompletion was due to a C.J. Gardner-Johnson pass breakup on a Deonte Harty curl route. Dai'Jean Dixon, Malcolm Brown, and Kirk Merritt all had catches.

11-ON-11 NOTES: The first session of this saw just runs, and we even got an Adam Prentice run to kick things off. However, it was blown up by Shy Tuttle and Pete Werner. He had two more run stops on Mark Ingram and Alvin Kamara to close out Winston's reps.

During Dalton's reps, I focused in a good bit on Trevor Penning. He had two really impressive reps against Payton Turner and Taco Charlton, which only reinforced his ability to do things as a run blocker. Malcolm Roach had a good inside run stop on Mark Ingram, and we saw the Deonte Harty jet sweep that Josh Black was able to stop.

With Book in, Albert Huggins kicked things off with a tackle for loss on Devine Ozigbo. Justin Evans was in on two run stops, and Josh Black had the final one on Abram Smith.

The second portion of team drills saw Dalton in for Winston. The team was working inside the 10-yard-line. He ended up finished 2-of-3, as the first pass went to Michael Thomas inside for a touchdown. He'd hit Alvin Kamara in the flats on the second play after he made a nice one-handed grab. His third pass was incomplete in the end zone to Marquez Callaway with Alontae Taylor in coverage. The final play from the 3-yard-line saw Alvin Kamara rush it in on the left side.

The second series saw Dalton take two snaps, hitting Juwan Johnson for a touchdown on a curl route, and then finding Devine Ozigbo off the left side for a short gain. Ian Book stepped in for reps at the 5-yard-line, hitting Deonte Harty for a score and then keeping in on the final play of the series from the 3-yard-line, putting a killer juke on J.T. Gray.

Book's series saw finish 3-of-4, hitting a swing pass to Tony Jones Jr. to start. His second pass to Kevin White was in and out of the hands of Kevin White, which was nearly picked off by a defensive lineman as it fell to the turf. Book connected with Kirk Merritt on a slant for the score. Things closed out with Book on play action hitting Malcom Brown for the touchdown.

The final portion of team drills focused on two-minute offense from the offense's own 25-yard-line. The defense won both series. Andy Dalton led the first one, running 12 plays. Things started strong with Jarvis Landry, but two missed passes to Michael Thomas (Bradley Roby pressure) and a dropped crossing route pass to Adam Trautman put them into a tougher situation.

An illegal hands to the face call gave the offense new life as they crossed the 50. They would later be faced with a 4th-and-1 that Mark Ingram picked up on an inside zone. Dalton finished 6-of-10, and the last few plays went rough for the offense. David Onyemata broke up a pass with the team inside the 20, and then Carl Granderson had a sack working against James Hurst. The final play saw with 9 second left saw Dalton scramble around with Cam Jordan and Carl Granderson providing the pressure, and the pass to Michael Thomas was short and broken up by Bradley Roby.

Book's work went a little quicker, as he finished 6-of-6. He hit Deonte Harty on a slant to start, and then hooked up with Nick Vannett down the seam on a very pretty throw and catch. He went back to Harty on a slant route, and then had a keeper for a big run. The next play was ran with 45 seconds left, and Daniel Sorensen had the sack. The offense used a timeout, and we had three straight connections to Tre'Quan Smith, including the final one hitting him in the end zone. However, that went down as a sack by Eric Wilson.

STOCK UP: We've talked about him before, but Kirk Merritt continues to impress in training camp. He won both of his reps in 1-on-1, including a score. He also got a deep sideline throw on the left side from Ian Book to close out 7-on-7. If he can keep things going into preseason, then it might make it a little more interesting.

DON'T CLOSE THAT BOOK: This was probably one of the best practices we've seen from Ian Book. He's had a pretty mixed bag overall, but seems to be getting better in his decision-making. We'll really get a sense and feel for it during preseason action. He has to have a strong showing.

WERNER'S IMPACT: Pete Werner is making some really good reads on the field, and seems to be a real asset in run coverage. Many were surprised to not see Kwon Alexander come back, but things have been very positive for Werner so far.

CLUTCH LUTZ: He's missed one field goal all training camp, and that was from 57 yards early on in camp. Even with that, he ended up making the next attempt from the same distance. He hit all six of his attempts today, including 52 and 56 yards out. He's 26-of-27 right now.

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