Saints Camp: Day 6 Practice Notes and Observations

The Saints were able to have Wednesday's practice outside. Here's our Day 6 notes and observations from training camp.

Author:
John Hendrix
Publish date:
Aug 4, 2021 3:08 PM EDT

The sun was shining bright, which meant the Saints were able to move outdoors for Wednesday's practice. The facility is ready for fans, who will be able to attend for the next several days. Here's all of our notes and observations from practice No. 6 at training camp.

Previous Practice Recaps: Day 5 | Day 4 | Day 3 | Day 2 | Day 1

Attendance and Transactions

Tre'Quan Smith, Deonte Harris, Grant Haley, and Keith Washington II were all missing from the open portion of practice to the media. Sean Payton said after practice that he does not expect it to be long regarding Smith and Harris. Wil Lutz was back doing drills today.

Washington II was placed on the reserve list, as Payton announced during his press conference. Adonis Alexander was added to the roster in his place, and was present wearing No. 44.

It appeared to be a rest day for veterans like Latavius Murray, Malcolm Jenkins, and Ryan Ramczyk. They were spotted, but did not appear in many reps.

Quarterback Teaser

Jameis Winston got the first team reps on Wednesday, with Taysom Hill having them on Tuesday. Perhaps this rotation will continue as camp goes along, but it hasn't been a shock. It's hard to say that either quarterback has the advantage right now.

Winston did throw his first pick of training camp, which ended up being a bit underthrown and picked off by Ken Crawley. Ian Book also threw a pick to Paulson Adebo in one-on-one drills.

None of the quarterbacks looked particularly strong on the day. It was a 'take what the defense gave you' type of day, which led to a lot of shorter completions and check downs. The defense definitely had another solid day of practice for New Orleans.

Starting Rotation and Notes

The Saints once again started out in a two tight end set for practice, with one offensive line sub for Ramczyk and a sub for Smith's absence.

QB: Jameis Winston
RB: Alvin Kamara
WR: Marquez Callaway, Chris Hogan
TE: Adam Trautman, Nick Vannett
OL: Terron Armstead, Andrus Peat, Erik McCoy, Cesar Ruiz, James Hurst

Sub Notes: With Harris and Smith out, Hogan got more work in with the first team. Lil'Jordan Humphrey also was part of the rotation. Later in practice, it was Dwayne Washington and Devonta Freeman who got the majority of the reps with the offense. Towards the end of practice, Landon Young also got some work with the first team, subbing in for James Hurst.

The defense started out in nickel formation, but went into base 4-3 alignment for the duration of practice.

DE: Cam Jordan, Marcus Davenport
DT: David Onyemata, Shy Tuttle
LB: Zack Baun, Demario Davis
CB: Patrick Robinson (left), Marshon Lattimore (right)
Slot: C.J. Gardner-Johnson
S: Marcus Williams, Malcolm Jenkins

Sub Notes: When the Saints moved to a base alignment, Carl Granderson came in for Davenport, while Ryan Glasgow rotated in at Tuttle's spot with Tuttle moving to Onyemata's. Kaden Elliss, Demario Davis, and Pete Werner were the linebackers, and C.J. Gardner-Johnson played in place of Jenkins.

Second team formation included Tanoh Kpassagnon and Carl Granderson at edge, with Christian Ringo and Jalen Dalton on the interior. Elliss, Chase Hansen, and Baun were the linebackers.

1-on-1 Drills

The Saints split the quarterbacks up on opposite sides of the field, so I focused in on Taysom Hill and Ian Book's reps.

Taysom Hill (6/12)

Lil'Jordan Humphrey vs. Patrick Robinson, incomplete - Dropped intermediate middle
Ty Montgomery vs. Marshon Lattimore, incomplete - PBU deep left
Marquez Callaway vs. Ken Crawley, incomplete - PBU short sideline right
Tommylee Lewis vs. Brian Poole, complete - Comeback route middle
Chris Hogan vs. Adonis Alexander, complete - Shallow left
Lil'Jordan Humphrey vs. Patrick Robinson, complete - Good concentration for Humphrey to stay with it, but the ball was juggled some. Coverage was strong, would have been a minimal sideline gain
Kawaan Baker vs. Prince Amukamara, complete - Inside slant
Marquez Callaway vs. Ken Crawley, incomplete - Deep right
Chris Hogan vs. KeiVarae Russell, complete - Intermediate left, nice back shoulder turnaround job by Hogan
Lil'Jordan Humphrey vs. Ken Crawley, incomplete - PBU deep right, good ball location by Hill
Marquez Callaway vs. Patrick Robinson, incomplete - PBU deep right sideline
Kawaan Baker vs. Prince Amukamara, complete - Deep left near end zone

Ian Book (7/11)

Jake Lampman vs. C.J. Gardner-Johnson, incomplete - Deep right overthrow
Easop Winston Jr. vs. KeiVarae Russell, complete - Deep left over the shoulder grab
Jalen McCleskey vs. Paulson Adebo, intercepted - Underthrown, but good positioning by Adebo
Ty Montgomery vs. Marshon Lattimore, incomplete - Deep left, hung up some
Jake Lampman vs. C.J. Gardner-Johnson, complete - Inside short
Tommylee Lewis vs. Brian Poole, incomplete - Deep left overthrown, Poole did a good job on the first rep before the incompletion by jamming him at the line of scrimmage
Jalen McCleskey vs. Paulson Adebo, complete - Middle intermediate, good coverage by Adebo
Easop Winston Jr. vs. Adonis Alexander, complete - Deep left
Ty Montgomery vs. C.J. Gardner-Johnson, complete - Short right sideline
Tommylee Lewis vs. Paulson Adebo, complete - Comeback right side intermediate
Easop Winston Jr. vs. KeiVarae Russell, complete - Inside short slant

Rhythm, Flow, and Observations

The offense was in the dark jerseys for the first day. Winston once again had a glove on his non-throwing hand during outside's practice. At one point in formations, Nick Vannett lined up at fullback, similar to what Josh Hill would do.

Working outside, the offense and defense were on separate sides of the massive practice field. Most all of the work to start was specific to the position group, but the running backs worked with quarterbacks to start, then the wide receivers rotated in for them, and eventually all the skill positions worked alongside the quarterbacks.

We got 1-on-1 drills shortly after the position group work, then a small sampling of 11-on-11 followed by extensive punt work. New Orleans went back to 11-on-11 drills, field goal work, and then back to more offense vs. defense work. Today's camp closed with some punt work downing inside the 5-yard-line.

Gunner pairings for punts included the following:

J.T. Gray and Ty Montgomery
Jalen McCleskey and Paulson Adebo
Easop Winston Jr. and Jake Lampman
Juwan Johnson and KeiVarae Russell
Lil'Jordan Humphrey and P.J. Williams

Wil Lutz was a perfect 6-for-6 on his field goal attempts, which were all in the 40-yard or better range working on different hashes. Blake Gillikin was the holder.

Even with Kwon Alexander coming back, Payton said that they will be bringing him along slowly. That means we should still see a good bit of Pete Werner out there. He's definitely growing, but you saw the inconsistency from one play to the next. On one play, he was in great position and had stellar coverage on a pass into the flats. The next one he got turned around and juked by an inside route from Devonta Freeman.

Sack City: These aren't official sacks due to the lack of contact on the quarterback. However, played out in normal speed without limitations, here's some sack artists from today. Christian Ringo and Jalen Dalton combined for a sack on Winston, while Noah Spence got one late in drills.

Payton Turner had a couple (Trevor Siemian, Ian Book). The one on Book he literally pushed the lineman into him for a sack. He also had a moment where he absolutely blew up the lineman and was in the backfield for a pressure.

Quick Hit: We have a long ways to go, but Trevor Siemian hasn't looked nearly as good as Ian Book. The Saints may very well carry another quarterback on the practice squad like Siemian, but it's really encouraging to see how far Book has come in such a short time.

Stock Down: Nolan Cooney had another tough day at practice. Out of his 13 punts, there were just a couple that had good hang times and looked like he got all of it. They had another two punts after they appeared to be concluded with the drill.

Stock Up: Ken Crawley had a great day of practice. Perhaps Marshon Lattimore's stellar camp is making him play up a level. He was perfect in 1-on-1 drills and had a nice interception on Winston.