Saints Training Camp Day 10 Notes and Observations

The Saints offense had a pretty tough day at the office, but a few younger players shined a little bit more during Day 10 of training camp.

METAIRIE -- Sunday's Saints training camp practice came and went, and we have one more session before the team gets a break on Tuesday. New Orleans once again started things indoor, staying in there a little longer than normal before transitioning outside to fans. Here's all of our notes and observations from Day 10.

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

Saints Training Camp Notes and Observations from Day 10

John Hendrix

ATTENDANCE

Taysom Hill, Tre'Quan Smith, Rashid Shaheed, Demario Davis, Ryan Ramczyk, Max Garcia, and Andrus Peat were among those not spotted at practice on Sunday. Hill and Ramczyk had a vet day, as well as Tyrann Mathieu, who was spotted towards the beginning of stretching. Bryan Bresee, Cesar Ruiz, and Calvin Throckmorton all returned. Dennis Allen said after practice that Davis' absence due to the calf injury is not considered serious. Shaheed and Smith are both dealing with groin injuries.

Two injuries happened during practice, with the first being Lucas Krull. He went up for a catch in the end zone and landed awkwardly. He tried to walk it off, but did not end up going outdoors when the team transitioned. It's a tailbone injury. The other was Koda Martin, who has an ankle injury and will require further evaluation. Allen said both do not feel like their season-ending. James Hurst also left practice briefly due to a hand issue, but ended up returning.

STARTING LOOKS

The Saints had an offensive line of Trevor Penning, James Hurst, Erik McCoy, Cesar Ruiz, and Storm Norton today. Keith Kirkwood got work with the first team offense alongside Michael Thomas and Chris Olave. The second group had Nick Saldiveri, Landon Young, Alex Pihlstrom, Mark Evans II, and Koda Martin.

On defense, the Saints had another base look with a line of Cam Jordan, Khalen Saunders, Nathan Shepherd, and Carl Granderson. Zack Baun, Pete Werner, and D'Marco Jackson were at linebacker, with Alontae Taylor and Marshon Lattimore at corner. Jordan Howden once against first-team reps at safety, working with Marcus Maye this time. Bradley Roby rotated in as the nickel corner in place of Baun later in team.

The second defensive line pairing in the rotation was Tanoh Kpassagon, Bryan Bresee, Malcolm Roach, and Payton Turner. Later in team, we had a starting look of Jordan, Shepherd, Roach, and Turner.

2-ON-2 RED ZONE DRILL

For the first time in a long time, we saw the team working 2 vs. 2 in red zone. The concept was tight receivers near the goal line with 2 defensive backs in coverage. The offense worked on a variety of route combinations, which included picks. I won't list every play that was ran, but hit on some of the big highlights.

• Michael Thomas (Bradley Roby) and Lynn Bowden Jr. (Isaac Yiadom) - Touchdown over the middle to Thomas from Carr.
• Lynn Bowden Jr. (Alontae Taylor) and Bryan Edwards (Paulson Adebo) - Pass breakup for Taylor, intended for Bowden Jr from Carr.
• A.T. Perry (Ugo Amadi) and Chris Olave (Marcus Maye) - Touchdown left to Olave on left out from Carr.
• Michael Thomas (Marshon Lattimore) and Keith Kirkwood (Bradley Roby) - Touchdown to Thomas on slant from Winston.
• A.T. Perry (Paulson Adebo) and James Washington (Alontae Taylor) - Touchdown left from Winston
• Lynn Bowden Jr. (Paulson Adebo) and A.T. Perry (Ugo Amadi) - Touchdown left out from Carr.
• Chris Olave (Troy Pride) and Kawaan Baker (Adrian Frye) - Touchdown middle in from Winston.
• Keke Coutee (Alontae Taylor) and Michael Thomas (Paulson Adebo) - Touchdown post from Haener.

There were a few instances where things didn't work to Thomas, and he became a little frustrated. However, he bounced back to make some good plays. There was plenty of jawing between the defensive backs and receivers during this drill regarding the physicality of the corners.

RED ZONE 7-ON-7

Like we charted yesterday, here's how things looked in the red zone during 7-on-7 for each quarterback.

Derek Carr (3/6)

• 17-yard-line: Complete, Juwan Johnson near the right sideline for a short gain with Zack Baun in coverage.
• 14-yard-line: Complete, Kendre Miller on a wheel route left for a touchdown working against Pete Werner. This was one of the highlights of the day, and a great thing to see for Miller and his development in the passing game.
• 9-yard-line: Incomplete, right end zone shot to Jontre Kirklin that was defended well by Alontae Taylor.
• 6-yard-line: Complete, touchdown left side to Chris Olave on out route working against Zack Baun.
• 3-yard-line: Incomplete, fade route to Jimmy Graham with Alontae Taylor in coverage. There might have been a flag thrown for contact.
• 17-yard-line: Incomplete, Alvin Kamara up the seam with Zack Baun in coverage. It was just off his hands and usually a catch he'd make. It would have been an easy touchdown.

Jameis Winston (2/5)

• 15-yard-line: Complete, curl right to Kawaan Baker working against D'Marco Jackson.
• 9-yard-line: Incomplete, pass over the middle to Bryan Edwards with Johnathan Abram in coverage. It was tipped up in the air and nearly picked off by D'Marco Jackson.
• 6-yard-line: Incomplete, curl right near the end zone to Kawaan Baker. Lonnie Johnson Jr. had excellent coverage to force the incompletion at the end.
• 4-yard-line: Incomplete, fade right to Lucas Krull working against Isaac Yiadom. This was the play Krull got hurt on, as Yiadom had his hand and likely could have been called for contact. Krull never got a chance to brace himself.
• 18-yard-line: Complete, middle left to Lynn Bowden Jr. working against Nick Anderson.

Jake Haener (2/4)

• 9-yard-line: Incomplete, intended for Keith Kirkwood in right end zone with Troy Pride in coverage. Throw was low.
• 5-yard-line: Complete, sideline right touchdown to Ellis Merriweather. He made an outstanding one-handed grab to get the touchdown with Anfernee Orji in coverage.
• 4-yard-line: Complete, James Washington in the back of the end zone middle against Anthony Johnson for a touchdown.
• 3-yard-line: Incomplete, curl route right intended for Jontre Kirklin with Adrian Frye in defense.

TEAM DRILLS

TEAM SERIES NO. 1: These were most all rushing attempts, and the run defense did a pretty nice job overall. Carr started with an inside handoff to Alvin Kamara off the left side that was stopped by D'Marco Jackson. The next one was to Kendre Miller, and Zack Baun had the tackle for loss despite being held by Juwan Johnson. The lone pass attempt from any quarterback was a completion to Keith Kirkwood for a short gain off a curl route with Jordan Howden defending. 

Winston's series started with a Jamaal Williams run to the left, with Bryan Bresee making the stop. The next play was a run to the left again with Kamara that was stopped by Ty Summers. The next play went to the opposite side with Kendre Miller, with Summers and Nephi Sewell there for the run stop. The offense found a little more success on the next play on an end around with Keke Coutee for a nice gain. The final play was another run left with Williams that was stopped by Sewell.

Jake Haener's series started with a successful outside run to the right by Ellis Merriweather with Nick Anderson and Smoke Monday in pursuit. Kirk Merritt got the next two carries, with the first ending up as a tackle for loss by Jack Heflin and Prince Emili. The next went inside and saw him get to the second level, eventually stopped by Anfernee Orji. The fourth play was a run to the left with Adam Prentice providing a nice lead block for Merriweather. Kirk Merritt got the final carry right, which was stopped short by Anderson.

TEAM SERIES NO. 2: This was one of the roughest outings for the offense that we've seen. Carr ended up 0/3 here and was visibly frustrated following the series. Here's how the sequence played out. Carr's first pass went to Michael Thomas on a curl, but Alontae Taylor had a nice pass breakup. Carr then tried Chris Olave on a deep post route with Taylor in coverage, but it was overthrown. Payton Turner also won his rep against Trevor Penning to get the pressure. The next play didn't happen do to a low snap, and then after the reset Carr ran right after Nathan Shepherd provided pressure. Carr was then victim to a coverage sack on the next play, and this is where James Hurst got hurt. Finally, there was a throwaway on the final rep as Carr got hit low. Johnathan Abram had the pressure.

James Winston's series started a little better, hitting Michael Thomas near the right sideline working against Isaac Yiadom with some YAC. He then hit Alvin Kamara on a swing pass to the left, but have to note that Nephi Sewell was there for a would-be pressure and possible sack. Winston then hit Juwan Johnson on a slant for a nice gain over the middle. The lone incompletion was a fade route to the right for A.T. Perry that was defended well by Isaac Yiadom. Winston came back to hit a crossing route to Lynn Bowden Jr. to end his series and finish 4/5.

Jake Haener had a pretty decent series, going 4/5. He started off by hitting Jontre Kirklin for a short gain to the left, and then rolled right to complete another short hookup, this time to Keke Coutee. Both plays had Troy Pride in coverage. He then operated from the gun two of the next three plays (last one), hitting Juwan Johnson on an out right that turned into additional yards up the right sideline. He then found James Washington over the middle, but then ended his series getting picked off by Smoke Monday with Niko Lalos providing pressure.

TEAM SERIES NO. 3 HIGHLIGHTS: This series was in the red zone, and we had obstructed views for this. We had four reps from each quarterback, and then each got two more to finish things out. Rather than give you incomplete charting, what I will highlight here is that Alontae Taylor did a nice job in coverage on a fade route to Michael Thomas during Carr's first series. 

We had our second pass breakup at the line, this time by Malcolm Roach on a Jameis Winston pass. Bryan Bresee made an excellent play on a Jamaal Williams screen that had Mark Evans II and Nick Saldiveri in front of it. The pass rush had a couple of good plays during the series.

Jake Haener's series saw the first play end in a sack after Niko Lalos got there. Kirk Merritt had a touchdown catch left working against Anfernee Orji. Isaiah Foskey also had a nice pressure during Haener's second to last rep after they went to a two-play rotation.

GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS

• Wil Lutz ended up making all of his field goals, going 8-of-8 on the day. He saved the team from having to run gassers by nailing a 52-yard field goal to end practice. He's well aware of his three misses in camp, but continues to be very optimistic going into this season. However, he ended up drilling a 62-yard field goal in one of his kicks to go along with makes from 42, 46, 47 and 54 yards. He's 32-of-35 in camp.
• Alontae Taylor had a really good day today, and Marshon Lattimore continues to have a solid camp. The Saints really have a strong group for their corner spot, and it's honestly refreshing.
• Blake Gillikin handled all kicks on the day. Missed the first hang time, but the other unofficial times I had were: 3.88, 4.05, 4.15, 4.70, 3.75, 4.58, 4.71, 4.61. 
• Punt returners on the day were Lynn Bowden Jr., Chris Olave, Ugo Amadi, Keke Coutee, and Alvin Kamara.
• The team also worked on kickoffs today. Returners included Lynn Bowden Jr., Keke Coutee, and Alontae Taylor.
• Kick return team consisted of Isaac Yiadom, Zack Baun, Johnathan Abram, J.T. Gray, D'Marco Jackson, Juwan Johnson, James Washington, Adam Prentice, Ryan Connelly, and Ty Summers.
• Kickoff team had Anfernee Orji, Nick Anderson, Zack Baun, Smoke Monday, Ugo Amadi, Ellis Merriweather, Nephi Sewell, Keith Kirkwood, and Adrian Frye with Lutz kicking.
• Newly acquired wide receiver Jontre Kirklin was wearing No. 85.
• Storm Norton got some work with the guards indoors, and Nick Saldiveri worked with the tackle group during the same drill period.