Saints Training Camp Day 11 Notes and Observations

Monday's Saints training camp practice focused on work in the red zone, two-minute, and also brought us some entertaining 1-on-1 reps.

METAIRIE -- The Saints kept Monday's training camp practice indoors, as it was back to just being media in attendance. Here's all of our notes, observations, and takeaways from Day 10's session.

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

Saints Training Camp Notes and Observations from Day 11

John Hendrix

ATTENDANCE

Tre'Quan Smith, Rashid Shaheed, Marshon Lattimore, J.T. Gray, Demario Davis, Koda Martin, Andrus Peat, and Lucas Krull were among those not spotted at Monday's practice. Lattimore, Gray, and Graham had a vet day. Smith and Shaheed are out with groin injuries, while Krull is dealing with a tailbone and Martin had an ankle injury. 

Regarding Davis (calf), Allen is optimistic about his outlook, talking about the soft tissue injuries as a long time. Both Davis and Peat (quad) have been spotted at the facility, so there's a lot more reason to be optimistic there.

Kirk Merritt (hamstring), Jesse James (groin), and Anthony Johnson (groin) all left practice early. However, Johnson came back. An initial update on Merritt and James was that it is not significant.

STARTING LOOKS AND MORE

The Saints had an offensive line of Trevor Penning, James Hurst, Erik McCoy, Cesar Ruiz, and Ryan Ramczyk out there today. Landon Young did get some reps with the first-team at left guard in place of Hurst. Young then kicked out to left tackle alongside Nick Saldiveri for the second-team. 

The Saints once again showed a base 4-3 defense, but did run to nickel for some of their drills. The first group had Cam Jordan, Nathan Shepherd, Khalen Saunders, and Payton Turner on the line. Zack Baun, Nephi Sewell, and Pete Werner were at linebacker, with Alontae Taylor and Paulson Adebo on the outside. Marcus Maye and Tyrann Mathieu were at safety. When the team ran nickel, Bradley Roby was handling slot duties. Also, an inside rotation changed with Malcolm Roach and Bryan Bresee on the inside.

1-ON-1 DETAILS

Here's the details from how 1-on-1's looked today and comments, with the highlight coming on a hookup to Chris Olave from Derek Carr.

• Michael Thomas vs. Paulson Adebo (Carr) - Complete, inside middle after a nice battle at the line of scrimmage between the two.
• Chris Olave vs. Alontae Taylor (Carr) - Complete, inside middle.
• Kawaan Baker vs. Ugo Amadi (Winston) - Complete, comeback left short.
• Bryan Edwards vs. Isaac Yiadom (Winston) - Incomplete, sideline right intermediate. Nice coverage from Yiadom.
• Lynn Bowden Jr. vs. Anthony Johnson (Carr) - Complete, inside middle intermediate.
• Keith Kirkwood vs. Troy Pride (Carr) - Incomplete, fade right deep. Ball was overthrown.
• James Washington vs. Adrian Frye (Winston) - Incomplete, post from left side, behind him.
• A.T. Perry vs. Paulson Adebo (Winston) - Incomplete, right sideline out route.
• Keke Coutee vs. Alontae Taylor (Carr) - Complete, left sideline out route.
• Shaq Davis vs. Troy Pride (Winston) - Complete, inside slant route after a nice stutter step move from Davis.
• Jontre Kirklin vs. Ugo Amadi (Winston) - Incomplete, left sideline out route.
• Michael Thomas vs. Isaac Yiadom (Carr) - Complete, right sideline out route.
• Chris Olave vs. Bradley Roby (Carr) - Incomplete, left sideline out route.
• Bryan Edwards vs. Paulson Adebo (Carr) - Complete, fade route right. Nice catch by Edwards, maybe one of his best from camp.
• Kawaan Baker vs. Anthony Johnson (Winston) - Complete, inside middle.
• A.T. Perry vs. Isaac Yiadom (Winston) - Incomplete, back shoulder right side.
• Lynn Bowden Jr. vs. Adrian Frye (Carr) - Complete, inside middle after nice stutter step move from Bowden Jr. at the line.
• Keith Kirkwood vs. Troy Pride (Carr) - Incomplete, out route left. Good coverage by Pride.
• Chris Olave vs. Alontae Taylor (Carr) - Complete, fade route left. Perfect execution here between the two for a score. Great throw with an even better catch that was one of the highlights of the day.
• Shaq Davis vs. Paulson Adebo (Winston) - Complete, fade route right. Worth an honorable mention as a runner-up to Olave's catch. Adebo stopped him short at the 1-yard-line.
• Michael Thomas vs. Isaac Yiadom (Carr) - Complete, curl route left short.
• James Washington vs. Bradley Roby (Winston) - Complete, sideline left out route, intermediate gain.
• Bryan Edwards vs. Troy Pride (Winston) - No throw. Good coverage by Pride and definitely seemed like miscommunication between the two.
• Jontre Kirklin vs. Adrian Frye (Carr) - Incomplete, fade left end zone. Frye slipped on the route near the end, but the ball/timing was off.
• A.T. Perry vs. Paulson Adebo (Carr) - Incomplete, inside slant with PBU from Adebo.
• Keke Coutee vs. Anthony Johnson (Winston) - Incomplete, fade left. Just off his hands.
• Michael Thomas vs. Isaac Yiadom (Carr) - Complete, inside middle.
• Chris Olave vs. Alontae Taylor (Carr) - Complete, out and up left, touchdown. Olave just left Taylor behind on the route.
• Bryan Edwards vs. Paulson Adebo (Winston) - Complete, sideline right for intermediate gain.
• Lynn Bowden Jr. vs. Ugo Amadi (Winston) - Complete, middle in. My notes said it was a good inside move and 'cooked' him.
• Keith Kirkwood vs. Troy Pride (Carr) - Complete, sideline right deep.
• Kawaan Baker vs. Adrian Frye (Carr) - Complete, sideline left out route.
• A.T. Perry vs. Isaac Yiadom (Winston) - Complete, slant inside right to left.

7-ON-7 WORK

First Defensive Group: Marcus Maye, Tyrann Mathieu, Paulson Adebo, Bradley Roby, Alontae Taylor, Zack Baun, Pete Werner

DEREK CARR (5/6): Carr's series started with an excellent hookup to Jesse James for a big gain off the left sideline. No one accounted for him on the route, and he was wide open. Carr then hit Juwan Johnson in the flats on a short out right with Zack Baun in coverage. The next play was a fade to the right to Michael Thomas after beating Bradley Roby in coverage, but he dropped the pass. Carr had him and that's usually a catch Thomas makes. 

Carr came back with an underneath crossing route hookup to A.T. Perry in front of Alontae Taylor and Marcus Maye to the right sideline. The next play was another sideline hookup to Lynn Bowden Jr. for a short gain, and things ended with a Taysom Hill curl route hookup with Nephi Sewell and Zack Baun as the closest to him.

JAMEIS WINSTON (5/5): Winston hit Kendre Miller out of the backfield after a fake. Miller ran an angle route for a short gain with Nephi Sewell in coverage. He then hit a crossing route to Taysom Hill underneath for a short gain with Anfernee Orji in coverage. Crossers were a familiar choice for the offense today. Miller got another short catch on the check down underneath for the next play with Orji in coverage again, and then Winston went back to Taysom Hill on an intermediate crossing route for a nice gain. The series ended with a short hookup to Lynn Bowden Jr. on a curl route with Orji right there.

JAKE HAENER (4/4): Haener got things started with a crossing route hookup to James Washington for an intermediate gain working against Anthony Johnson. He then hit Lynn Bowden Jr. in the flats for a nice sideline hookup with Adrian Frye in coverage. He went to him again on the next play for a short curl route hookup, and then let a play develop where Bryan Edwards managed to get free on a crossing route with Troy Pride and Nick Anderson as the closest defenders.

TEAM DRILLS

TEAM SERIES NO. 1: Like it was yesterday, most all of these were running plays. There was one pass out of the plays we saw from Carr, however. The first play was a run to the right with Alvin Kamara that went for a short gain. Then, Taysom Hill rotated in and faked the inside handoff to Jamaal Williams to takeoff left that was stopped by Pete Werner for a loss. Carr came back in and saw his lone pass to Juwan Johnson result in a drop off his hands on the slant hookup. 

Hill came back in and there was no play at first, but then had a short run inside on the next one. Carr had a halfback flip to Kendre Miller on the left side for the next play, but Carl Granderson made a nice play to force a tackle for loss. Granderson also had a run stop on the next play with Hill at quarterback, as he handed off to Kamara inside.

Jameis Winston's first play was a handoff to the right with Jamaal Williams for a short gain. He then gave it to Alvin Kamara for an inside run after making a cut for a medium gain. Williams got another carry inside right and made it to the second level after some nice mobes. Taysom Hill came in on the next play to run to the outside left with Foster Moreau and Jake Bargas out front as blockers, but Zack Baun, Ugo Amadi, and Bradley Roby were in good positioning to force a short gain.

Jake Haener came in and tried a stretch play to Kirk Merritt off the left side for the first run, with Anfernee Orji making the stop. Kendre Miller had a good carry on the outside to get to the second left on the next play. Hill came in for his series, handing off to Ellis Merriweather inside for a short gain. Haener returned and handed off to Miller inside for a short gain. The final play was another inside run with Merriweather, and Jerron Cage made a nice stop.

TEAM SERIES NO. 2 (RED ZONE): We got to see a little more team work in the red zone here. Here's how things went.

Derek Carr (2/5)

• 12-yard-line: Complete, Alvin Kamara flats right. He was all alone in space.
• 9-yard-line: Complete, Kamara again up the right sideline working against Zack Baun. Carl Granderson had a nice pressure on the play.
• 7-yard-line: Incomplete, screen right to Kamara. Bryan Bresee had the pressure.
• 5-yard-line: Incomplete, A.T. Perry sideline right in the back of the end zone with Paulson Adebo in coverage. This is where Landon Young rotated in at left guard. Payton Turner won his rep against Trevor Penning and got the pressure.
• 2-yard-line: Incomplete, fade right for Chris Olave working against Paulson Adebo. He tried to make a one-handed grab, but was unable to secure it.

Jameis Winston (2/5)

• 12-yard-line: Complete, inside right to Jamaal Williams for a short gain. D'Marco Jackson in coverage.
• 9-yard-line: Complete, screen left to Kendre Miller that was stopped by Zack Baun for a minimal gain.
• 7-yard-line: Incomplete, throwaway after Carl Granderson won his rep against Landon Young at left tackle and would have got a sack. Khalen Saunders was also there for the pressure.
• 5-yard-line: Interception, intended for Lynn Bowden Jr. Lonnie Johnson Jr. made an excellent read at the goal line to pick off Winston.
• 2-yard-line: Complete, flats right to Foster Moreau for at touchdown with Ugo Amadi in coverage.

Jake Haener (2/4)

• 12-yard-line: Incomplete, curl left to A.T. Perry that had Anthony Johnson and Smoke Monday in coverage. Credit Johnson for a pass breakup.
• 9-yard-line: Complete, Underneath short gain on a curl route to Lynn Bowden Jr. Alontae Taylor, working from the slot, in coverage.
• 7-yard-line: Weird sequence that saw Haener take off after it looked to be a handoff to Ellis Merriweather. Merriweather wasn't there for the give.
• 5-yard-line: Incomplete, out route right in the flats to Merriweather with Ryan Connelly in coverage.
• 2-yard-line: Complete, touchdown right end zone to Juwan Johnson. Haener rolled right and put it in a great spot to Johnson, who made a nice catch working against Smoke Monday

TWO-MINUTE BEFORE THE HALF

The final team sequencing for the Saints involved them operating before the half in two-minute with two timeouts. Here's how things went for each quarterback, as Carr looked impressive.

Derek Carr (6/7)

• 1:40 - Complete, curl left to Keith Kirkwood (Pete Werner)
• 1:26 - Complete, crossing route left for a short gain to Juwan Johnson (Bradley Roby)
• 1:13 - Complete, slant inside to A.T. Perry (Bradley Roby)
• 0:57 - Complete, back shoulder hookup down the right seam to Juwan Johnson (Pete Werner). This was one of the prettiest hookups of the day, as the timing and catch were spot on.
• 0:35 - Complete, sideline right short to Juwan Johnson (Paulson Adebo)
• 0:28 - Complete, flats right to Jamaal Williams (Zack Baun), who ran out of bounds.
• 0:22 - Inside run to Jamaal Williams on the stretch play.
• 0:04 - Spike by Carr.
• 0:02 - Field Goal from 28 yards out by Blake Grupe.

Jameis Winston (6/9)

• 1:40 - Complete, curl left to Taysom Hill (Smoke Monday)
• 1:35 - Complete, curl left to Kawaan Baker (Nephi Sewell)
• 1:18 - Incomplete, sideline left short to Taysom Hill (Adrian Frye). Just off his hands.
• 1:12 - Complete, right side short to A.T. Perry
• 0:54 - Complete, side out route right to Lynn Bowden Jr. (Troy Pride)
• 0:48 - Complete, middle intermediate gain to Foster Moreau (Johnathan Abram)
• 0:33 - Complete, slant right to left to Kawaan Baker (Ugo Amadi/Smoke Monday)
• 0:26 - Incomplete, deep sideline left pass to Keke Coutee (Isaac Yiadom). He tried to dive to make the catch.
• 0:20 - Incomplete, sideline right intermediate attempt to Taysom Hill (Troy Pride/Smoke Monday). Floater pass, Monday had an opportunity to pick it off.
• 0:15 - Incomplete, throwaway right after Tanoh Kpassagon pressure.
• 0:11 - Field goal attempt from 45 yards out no good by Blake Grupe, wide right.

Jake Haener got one snap here, as the team simulated a sack with 22 seconds left and then got the field goal team on the field without timeouts. Grupe hit this one with 0:06 left, good from 47.

GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS

• Dennis Allen said that the starters will play in the team's opening preseason game against the Chiefs.
• No updates on the visits for Kareem Hunt and Anthony Barr. They're in town Monday, but were not on the field.
• Payton Turner is playing with a lot more confidence this season, and feels like he's ready to take a step forward.
• It's time to put a little more focus on someone like Ugo Amadi. He's growing in the slot and has had a couple of plays over the past few practices. The team has some options at safety and we're eager to see who can distance themselves.
• Team simulated kickoffs today. The lineup on the kick team (left to right) was Johnathan Abram, Smoke Monday, Carl Granderson, Ryan Connelly, Kendre Miller, Blake Grupe, Lonnie Johnson Jr., Anfernee Orji, Nick Anderson, Jordan Howden, and Ugo Amadi. Returners included Lynn Bowden Jr., Keke Coutee, and Taysom Hill was around the group.
• One of Blake Grupe's kicks were questionable, and the consensus felt like it was a miss. So, for today's charting we're going to go with 6-of-8. He definitely missed his first field goal in two-minute, as it was wide right.
• The team is off on Tuesday, so we'll be back at it on Wednesday.