Saints Training Camp Day 15 Notes and Observations

Day 15 of Saints training camp gave us some really good moments from the offense, as both Carr and Winston were big in two-minute.

METAIRIE -- The Saints had an evening practice for Day 15 of training camp. It'll be their last one before they have joint sessions with the Chargers on Thursday and Friday. New Orleans was in their shells on Tuesday, and we got a good bit of action from practice. Here's all the notes and observations from practice.

TRAINING CAMP RECAPS: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Day 6 | Day 7 | Day 8 | Day 9 | Day 10 | Day 11 | What We've Learned | Day 12 | Day 13 | Day 14

Saints Training Camp Notes and Observations from Day 15

ATTENDANCE AND INJURY UPDATES

The biggest news item from today would be that Demario Davis returned to practice. Among those not spotted on Tuesday afternoon's practice included Tre'Quan Smith, Michael Thomas, Rashid Shaheed, Kirk Merritt, Landon Young, Andrus Peat, Jesse James, Lucas Krull, and Cam Jordan. Thomas and Jordan got rest days.

I did see Kendre Miller before the team stretch, and he later came back to observe practice. I also spotted Lucas Krull doing some work with a trainer. New Orleans released receiver James Washington to make room for Darrel Williams. Williams is in No. 34.

Cesar Ruiz left practice early due to a shoulder, something that got hurt during the Chiefs game, and Taysom Hill left due to an oblique strain. Dennis Allen doesn't believe Ruiz's injury is significant, while Hill will likely be out a day or two.

STARTING LOOKS AND MORE

For the offensive line, Trevor Penning, James Hurst, Erik McCoy, Calvin Throckmorton, and Storm Norton was the top look. The second pairing was Lewis Kidd, Nick Saldiveri, Max Garcia, Tommy Kraemer, and Chuck Filiaga.

A few different looks today defensively. New Orleans ran nickel to begin and then shifted back to 4-3. Tanoh Kpassagnon, Nathan Shepherd, Khalen Saunders, and Payton Turner were on the D-Line to start. Pete Werner and Jaylon Smith were at linebacker, with Bradley Roby in the slot. Alontae Taylor and Marshon Lattimore were on the outside, with Marcus Maye and Tyrann Mathieu at safety. Nephi Sewell and Zack Baun rotated in for Roby and Smith.

The second pairing on the defensive line had Kyle Phillips, Malcolm Roach, Bryan Bresee, and Isaiah Foskey. Zack Baun was at linebacker. Isaac Yiadom and Paulson Adebo were at corner, with Ugo Amadi in the slot and J.T. Gray in as an extra defensive back. Johnathan Abram and Lonnie Johnson Jr. were at safety.

7-ON-7 HIGHLIGHTS

Interesting period of 7-on-7, as we got Derek Carr and Jameis Winston all day. Carr went in for a series and then things swapped to Winston, but then they rotated as they moved into the red zone. The defense won here, but the offense got the last laugh.

Defensive personnel: Tyrann Mathieu, Marshon Lattimore, Zack Baun, Marcus Maye, Pete Werner, Nephi Sewell, Alontae Taylor. Bradley Roby rotated in for Baun.

Derek Carr's first series saw him go 2/3, finding Chris Olave near the sideline on an out route to start with Zack Baun in coverage. The offense went with an identical play on the next one, but this time it was to Juwan Johnson with Pete Werner on him for a short gain. The last pass was a deep sideline attempt to Foster Moreau working against Pete Werner. However, the ball was overthrown.

Second Defensive personnel: D'Marco Jackson, Ryan Connelly, Paulson Adebo, Lonnie Johnson Jr., Jaylon Smith, Isaac Yiadom, Johnathan Abram. Ugo Amadi rotated in for the slot.

Jameis Winston went 1/3 on his series. He started with a short completion to Kawaan Baker near the left sideline with Ryan Connelly in coverage. The next pass was a short curl to Chris Olave, which was dropped, a rarity for sure. Ugo Amadi was in coverage. Winston targeted Amadi again, this time trying Lynn Bowden Jr. off the right sideline on an out route, but it was incomplete.

Carr came back in to run three more plays, completing two passes in his three reps. The first was underneath to Foster Moreau for a short gain with Nephi Sewell in coverage. The second play didn't exactly happen and was blown dead. Carr wanted Alvin Kamara working against Ryan Connelly over the middle, but Kamara stumbled on the route. He finished this period by hitting Shaq Davis on a drag route with Bradley Roby in coverage.

Red Zone

Carr and the offense then moved up to the 15-yard-line to get into red zone. 

• 15-yard-line: Complete, Alvin Kamara on the angle route for an intermediate gain with Tyrann Mathieu and Jaylon Smith around.
• 10-yard-line: Complete, Kawaan Baker on an underneath route working against Pete Werner for a short gain.
• 6-yard-line: Incomplete, right end zone intended for Adam Prentice with Paulson Adebo in coverage. It was a drop for Prentice. A.T. Perry was Carr's first look, but the defense had excellent coverage on the play.

We then had Winston come in to take three reps before moving back to Carr.

• 18-yard-line: Incomplete, intended for Taysom Hill in the end zone on a seam route with D'Marco Jackson and Lonnie Johnson Jr. right there. It might not have been the best decision throwing into triple coverage, but Winston threaded it nicely to give Hill a chance.
• 12-yard-line: Complete, curl right short to Jontre Kirklin (Jaylon Smith).
• 7-yard-line: Complete, sideline left for a touchdown to Kawaan Baker (Marshon Lattimore). Baker caught the pass at the 1 and then put a nice juke on Lattimore to ensure he got in.

Back to Carr for the final work.

• 15-yard-line: Complete, curl left underneath to Chris Olave for a short gain (Nephi Sewell).
• 10-yard-line: Incomplete, flats left short intended for Adam Prentice (Pete Werner). It was another drop for Prentice, who had some looks but couldn't get a catch.
• 4-yard-line: Incomplete, fade route right to Chris Olave (Paulson Adebo). Great coverage by Adebo, who had a pass breakup.

TEAM PERIOD SHUFFLE

We once again had some shuffling go on here between Carr and Winston, as we didn't get Jake Haener at all on the day.

Carr's first four-play series started with a run with Jamaal Williams off the left side for an intermediate gain. After a false start by James Hurst, Carr hit Juwan Johnson on a short crosser inside with Jaylon Smith in coverage. Carr tried Jamaal Williams in the left flats working against Nephi Sewell on the next play, but the ball was over his head. He came back to hit Johnson again in the flats for a short gain with Tyrann Mathieu and Nephi Sewell around.

Winston jumped in for his four plays, hitting Foster Moreau on a short curl route right working against Sewell. He tried Moreau again up the left seat for an intermediate gain, but couldn't connect. Tanoh Kpassagnon blew up Tommy Kraemer on the play for the pressure, while Nick Saldiveri did a nice job handling Isaiah Foskey on the rush. Winston then hit Darrel Williams in the flats for a short gain with some YAC, with Isaac Yiadom and Zack Baun out there. Kamara then had a run to the right that was stopped by Baun.

Carr came back as they immediately rotated again. His first play saw the defense have excellent coverage, which led to a split sack between Nathan Shepherd and Carl Granderson. Payton Turner was also there for some pressure. Carr then hit A.T. Perry on a wheel route off the left side for a deep gain working against Marshon Lattimore. He then hit Kawaan Baker over the middle for a short gain in front of Lattimore. He finished his series with a pass out to the right flats to Jamaal Williams.

Winston handed off to Adam Prentice inside on his first play, as Jaylon Smith got the run stop. Ellis Merriweather caught Winston's first pass for a short gain inside to the left in front of Johnathan Abram. Winston tried Moreau on the next play off the right sideline in the intermediate area, but the pass was high. Winston came back from it to hit Juwan Johnson off the right sideline for an intermediate gain. There was pressure on the play and looked like there might have been a sack, but Winston got it off.

RED ZONE

We saw things shift to the red zone, with Carr getting six reps and Winston getting three. They gave Carr three, Winston three, and then finished with Carr getting the final three. So, for simplicity purposes, here's how each performed, but know there was split before Carr's second set of plays.

Derek Carr (1/4)

• 12-yard-line: Complete, curl left short to Alvin Kamara (Pete Werner). Carl Granderson had a really good push on the play to apply pressure.
• 8-yard-line: Keeper left by Derek Carr. Granderson once again blew things up, winning his rep against Trevor Penning. 
• 6-yard-line: Incomplete, angle route to Jamaal Williams (Tyrann Mathieu).
• 5-yard-line: Handoff inside to Jake Bargas for a short gain.
• 4-yard-line: Incomplete, left end zone to Chris Olave (Pete Werner). The pass was a little behind him, but he still had a chance to get his hands on it. It would likely go down as a drop. Both Payton Turner and Tanoh Kpassagnon had pressure on the play.
• 2-yard-line: Incomplete, Carr rolled left to try Juwan Johnson in the left end zone (Marshon Lattimore).

Jameis Winston (0/2)

• 12-yard-line: Incomplete, screen right to Jamaal Williams. Johnathan Abram was right there to blow things up.
• 8-yard-line: Incomplete, post route in the end zone intended for A.T. Perry (Paulson Adebo). Perry won the route and dropped the pass.
• 6-yard-line: Winston keeper inside for a touchdown run. Isaiah Foskey had the pressure.

TWO-MINUTE OFFENSE DELIVERS

Both Derek Carr and Jameis Winston delivered in their two-minute drills. The scenario was 1:30 on the clock with two timeouts, ball on their own 35-yard-line. The team had to score a touchdown, and both were not only successful, but delivered on the two-point attempt to win. Here's how the drives went, and from our vantage point it was harder to tell what yard line they were at until they got across midfield.

Derek Carr (7/10)

• 1:30, OWN 35 - Complete, curl right short to Keith Kirkwood (Pete Werner).
• 1:16 - Incomplete, sideline left short to Juwan Johnson (Nephi Sewell).
• 1:10 - Complete, sideline right short to Chris Olave (Alontae Taylor). The ball was a little low, and Olave did a great job getting it.
• 0:53 - Complete, seam right for a big gain to Juwan Johnson (Alontae Taylor). This was a tremendous hookup between the two, and I see more of this coming.
• 0:35, NO 32 - Complete, right side to Alvin Kamara (Tyrann Mathieu) for an intermediate gain of 10.
• 0:28, NO 22 - Complete, underneath short to Alvin Kamara (Tyrann Mathieu) for a short gain.
• 0:22, NO 15- Incomplete, throwaway right with pressure from both Pete Werner and Payton Turner.
• 0:17, NO 15 - Incomplete, throwaway right with pressure from Carl Granderson.
• 0:11, NO 15 - Complete, slant to A.T. Perry (Marshon Lattimore) for a short gain. This was actually 4th and 3 for the offense.
• 0:07, NO 9 - Complete, touchdown back of the end zone to Juwan Johnson (Marshon Lattimore, Tyrann Mathieu). This was a great hookup, good throw by Carr and nice catch by Johnson to get in.
• Blake Grupe Extra Point Good. Darren Rizzi simulated a penalty on the defense that gave them the option to run a 2-point attempt from the 1-yard-line.
• 2-Point Attempt Good after Alvin Kamara ran inside left.

Jameis Winston (6/11)

• 1:30, OWN 35 - Incomplete, flats left short to Ellis Merriweather (Jaylon Smith). Credit Smith for a pass breakup.
• 1:25, OWN 35 - Complete, flats right short to Ellis Merriweather (Jaylon Smith).
• 1:13 - Complete, sideline right for intermediate gain to Foster Moreau (Johnathan Abram).
• 1:07 - Incomplete, sideline left intermediate pass to Lynn Bowden Jr. (Isaac Yiadom). Pass was a little high.
• 1:02 - Complete, curl right short to Foster Moreau (Paulson Adebo). Adebo had a pretty big hit on the play, but Moreau got right back up.
• 0:47 - Complete, sideline right short to Ellis Merriweather (D'Marco Jackson). This was 4th Down to keep things going.
• 0:39, NO 42 - Incomplete, seam left intermediate to Kawaan Baker. This was miscommunication by Baker and Lynn Bowden Jr. They were both in the area and right there for the pass. Baker actually had a chance to get the catch, but dropped it. Isaac Yiadom, Ugo Amadi, and Johnathan Abram were in the area.
• 0:32, NO 42 - Complete, seam right deep gain to Jimmy Graham (Zack Baun, Johnathan Abram). About as pretty of a hookup as you can get to Graham for a 23-yard gain. Bryan Bresee had a good pressure on the play and was just a little short of getting to Winston.
• 0:18, NO 19 - Incomplete, spike.
• 0:18, NO 19 - Incomplete, back shoulder right end zone to Adam Prentice (Zack Baun). It was right off his hands.
• 0:12, NO 19 - Complete, back end zone post route to Shaq Davis (D'Marco Jackson). 
• 2-Point Attempt Good, Completed pass to Foster Moreau (Johnathan Abram) in the left end zone.

PLAY OF THE DAY

The catch by Shaq Davis was easy to put here. It was an insane catch and got my vote for play of the day. He got it one-handed and somehow stayed inbounds. He was down after the play, apparently getting the wind knocked out of him, but it was a monster hookup with 5 seconds to go. 

GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS

• Dennis Allen said Kendre Miller got good news post imaging, and he’ll travel with the team to California.
• Allen said that he wanted to give Michael Thomas a vet day to recover after this being his first game in a while. He expects Thomas to be a full go when they get to California for joint practices with the Chargers.
• Allen was complimentary of Trevor Penning's performance against the Chiefs, calling it 'strong'. 
• When asked about whether or not Derek Carr will play against the Chargers, Allen said, "We'll see."
• Blake Grupe hit all of his kicks today, including the extra point in two minute. So, he finished 6-of-6 on the day. Aside the two extra points, Grupe hit from 37, 39, 41, and 44 yards.
• It's hard to ignore Ugo Amadi in the punt return department. He's been doing a lot of this since early on in training camp. It was just him and Lynn Bowden Jr. returning punts on the day. Amadi has been a big slot presence, so this could also be something to watch and help his case for a roster spot.
• Jonathan Vilma was in attendance for practice today.