Saints Camp: Day 20 Practice Notes and Observations

The Saints had more of an easy tempo walkthrough for Tuesday's practice after their preseason win over the Jaguars.

Author:
John Hendrix
Publish date:
Aug 24, 2021 7:20 PM EDT

The Saints had a fairly brief practice on Tuesday afternoon following their preseason win over the Jaguars on Monday Night Football. The team had an impressive start and showing from their starting teams, which mainly included the Jameis Winston and Marquez Callaway connection. Here's a look at what we saw for Day 20 of training camp.

Training Camp Recaps: Day 19 | Day 18 | Day 17 | Day 16 | Day 15 | Day 13 | Day 12 | Day 11 | Day 10 | Day 9 | Day 8 | Day 7 | Day 6 | Day 5 | Day 4 | Day 3 | Day 2 | Day 1

Attendance and Transactions

For starters, the Saints were missing Wil Lutz, Tre'Quan Smith, Dwayne Washington, Ken Crawley, Garrett Griffin, Will Clapp, Nick Vannett, Adam Trautman, Malcolm Roach, and Payton Turner.

As far as transactions, the Saints placed Jalen Dalton (triceps), Brian Poole, and Ethan Greenidge on injured reserve, while waiving Nolan Cooney and waiving/injured Marcus Willoughby. This puts the team in line with the 80-man roster limit.

On Ken Crawley, he got hurt in Monday's game, but according to a source, he should be good to go by Week 1.

Starting Rotation and Notes

The rotation kept up with alternating quarterbacks, as Taysom Hill got the start.

QB: Taysom Hill
RB: Latavius Murray
WR: Marquez Callaway, Ty Montgomery
TE: Juwan Johnson, Ethan Wolf
OL: Terron Armstead, Andrus Peat, Erik McCoy, Cesar Ruiz, Ryan Ramczyk

Sub Notes: Chris Hogan, Easop Winston Jr., Alex Armah, and Tony Jones Jr. were among those who rotated in with the first team during walkthroughs and the small periods of 11-on-11. Later on, they put Deonte Harris in at wide receiver during red zone drills. That session included Lil' Jordan Humphrey as well.

Defensively, the Saints opened in nickel formation. During red zone drills, they moved to 3-3-5.

DE: Cam Jordan, Marcus Davenport
DT: Albert Huggins, Christian Ringo
LB: Kwon Alexander, Demario Davis
CB: Paulson Adebo (left), Marshon Lattimore (right)
Slot: C.J. Gardner-Johnson
S: Malcolm Jenkins, Marcus Williams

Sub Notes: The Saints didn't have many rotations in until the red zone period, which put in Kaden Elliss in for their 3-3-5 look. Huggins was the nose tackle.

Rhythm, Flow, and Observations

Today's practice was more of a walkthrough for the Saints. The team had worked on several position specific drills, with the normal emphasis that we're accustomed to. The Saints only had two periods of 11-on-11, and worked on a punt return hands team look after a safety, return lane work, and kick return blocks.

11-on-11 Notes: For the two periods, only Taysom Hill and Jameis Winston took part. Hill finished the first series 3-of-3, while Winston went 1-of-2. In the second series operating in the red zone later in practice, Hill went 2-of-3 while Winston finished 2-of-3 and passed for a touchdown to Easop Winston Jr. Overall, Hill went 5-of-6 and Winston went 3-of-5.

Hill's passes in the first drill were all to running backs, including a short pass over the middle to Tony Jones Jr. and two other short ones to him and Devonta Freeman. In the second series, he started with a nice intermediate gain to Deonte Harris on a curl route. Two plays later, Hill hit Devonta Freeman out of the backfield on an angle route for a good gain. His last pass was a throwaway while rolling right.

For Winston, he missed Kawaan Baker on his first throw, as it was off-target. He connected with Latavius Murray in the flats for his second throw. In the second series, Winston started by hitting Chris Hogan on a slant for an intermediate gain, and then had the touchdown to Winston Jr. The last pass was in the end zone to Kevin White, but Grant Haley had a nice pass breakup.

Noticeable Void: The Saints had two tight ends, Juwan Johnson and Ethan Wolf, for the entire practice. Garrett Griffin missed the game with an injury, while Nick Vannett and Adam Trautman got hurt on Monday night and were not in practice. A quick call to Josh Pederson might happen, depending on what happens with the others.

Hogan Back: Chris Hogan returned to practice on the day after being out of action for a few days, including the game. It's really close in the wide receiver battle right now, and seeing Lil'Jordan Humphrey rebound after a rough week of practice helped his stock.

Werner Participates: Pete Werner had been at practice, but had not participated in team drills. That changed today, as we saw him be in the mix for contact. That's a great sign for him and potentially seeing some action on Saturday.

We'll be back on Thursday for the next team practice.