White Sulphur Springs, W. Va. – (Day 6, 7-30-14) The New Orleans Saints wrapped up five days of work Tuesday with the conclusion of their afternoon walkthrough. Wednesday the team has the day off as they return to practice Thursday morning. Saturday the team will hold a scrimmage as they prepare for next Friday’s preseason opener in St. Louis.
BYRD’S FIRST PRACTICE: Rob Ryan got another weapon on Tuesday. Free agent pickup safety Jairus Bryd practiced for the first time in a Black and Gold uniform. Bryd shortly after singing a six-year $54 million dollar deal underwent back surgery and missed the team’s Organized Training Activities and began camp on the Physically Unable to Perform list.
Tuesday, Bryd participated in individual position drills and in 7-on-7 passing drills but was held out of the team periods.
“It’s been frustrating. You always want to be on the field you know that’s what I do,” Byrd said following Tuesday’s practice. “You want to practice and get better that’s the only way you get better is being out there. So obviously it’s been frustrating but I know it’s something that I need to do. You don’t want to rush things and then you have a setback and that messes up things.”
The Saints are hoping Byrd’s ball hawking skills will help pick up the turnovers they’ve set as a main goal this season. Byrd has 22 career interceptions and while he says he doesn’t feel pressure to be the turnover savior he’ll try and put his stamp on this defense.
“I just wan to be an impact player. That’s what I strive to be,” added Byrd. “Take-aways are a part of that so whatever being an impact player encompasses then that’s what I want to be and that’s what I pride myself in being.”
INJURY UPDATE: Heading into the off day on Wednesday the injury list looks like this. WR Kenny Stills is still out. He pulled up lame back on Day 1 of practice as a tight right quad that had been bothering him for two weeks per head coach Sean Payton acted up. Stills since Friday has been riding the stationary bike mostly during practice and mixing in other individual rehab exercises with watching with teammates during team periods.
LG Ben Grubb missed his second straight day of practice on Tuesday. Payton has not told us what is the issue with Grubbs and the big guy doesn’t have an visible issues so we’ll just wait and see. Second year player Senio Kelemete (6-3, 300 pounds) has been his replacement.
WR Robert Meachem who missed practice time this camp with back stiffness was back to work on Tuesday.
Rookie LT Tavon Rooks was taken on the PUP list on Tuesday but DT John Jenkins remains on it as he continues to recover from pectoral surgery. Jenkins however has to be getting close as he has been doing conditioning and football drills while practice is going on. Many of the football drills involve hitting pads, pushing sleds, and going through tackle dummies.
TURNOVERS: The Saints defense continues to try and focus on turnovers, an area of heavy emphasis this camp. Tuesday a pair of interceptions came by secondary players.
The first pick came from CB Terrence Frederick as he ran down a Luke McCown deep ball intended for WR Brandon Coleman who was double covered. The ball was overthrown and Frederick showed some speed tracking it like a centerfielder chasing down a deep fly ball. Frederick caught it in stride over his shoulder before turning and running back towards the offense.
The second interception came from S Marcus Ball who picked off QB Ryan Griffin in 7-on-7 drills. To date the Saints defense has six turnovers with four being interceptions and two being fumble recoveries.
WHAT’S UP WITH SJB: Many fans have been wondering about how the Saints second round draft pick is doing CB Stanley Jean-Baptiste. During OTAs and Mini Camp SJB was seen occasionally working with 1s with occaionaly making a nice play in showing his size and ball skills. So far in training camp he’s been quiet but I would argue not in a bad way. As instillations continue, Jean-Baptiste is still participating with the 1s during walkthroughs and during team periods gets in from time to time but is getting the majority of his reps with the second unit.
Saints secondary coach Wesley McGriff spoke with us following Tuesday’s practice and said that he is happy to have a cornerback who has the size SJB has and that while he still shows some hesitation the rookie is improving. “It’s because he’s continuing the process, a new environment you know first time in the league,” said McGriff. “I tell you what he has size, speed and he has some football intellect. You’ll see his progression come along. The best thing for him is that he has guys like Keenan Lewis and Champ Bailey that along with the coaching staff can bring him along. But he’s doing good we’re excited about his progress.”
Ron Ryan showed us last season that especially with the defensive backs there will be a ton of rotation and when they go heavy with secondary players on defensive sets plenty of guys get in on the play. The rookie will get his first real chance to show what he has learned and make plays in Saturday’s scrimmage.
CENTER BATTLE: It’s hard to get a good gauge on who is leading based on how they are being used. One day Tim Lelito and Jonathan Goodwin will get a full day with the first unit and others they rotate turns with the starters by the team period taking turns in one practice.
I have felt that judging by how the team approached the offseason and let Brian de la Puente leave they felt comfortable Lelito could be the starting center. Ben Grubbs over the weekend told us Lelito has talent but at times will go through expected learning mistakes and that he has to learn to move on following a bad play. Grubbs said that with Goodwin that doesn’t happen. I still believe the Saints will give Lelito every opportunity to win the starting job but have a solid back up plan in the veteran if Lelito needs more time to grow into the starting role.
BACKUP QB BATTLE: Luke McCown and Ryan Griffin continue to rotate by the day in working with the second unit. I feel that really neither QB has “shined’ or taken a hold of the back up spot. It’s not that either quarterback has played poorly but neither has well had a day or string of practices where you say okay nice throws.
If there is one thing that is standing out is the apparent difference in how each QB gets rid of the ball. Griffin appears decisive and the ball is out of his hands quickly. McCown appears to hold onto the ball a bit longer although head coach Sean Payton told us that could be based on the defense each is seeing. Payton says if it’s a three-man rush then he wants his QBs to hold on longer putting more stress on the defense. So really without video breakdown and tracking each snap it’s hard to say if McCown is holding on too long, if it’s good defense or if it’s planned.
This battle will be won mainly with how each plays in the preseason games which is why I think it could go down to the final days before the final roster cut down.
MORGAN’S BATTLES: I believe there are four WR spots locked up. Marques Colston, Brandin Cooks, Kenny Still and Nick Toon. Joe Morgan who’s working his way back from a serious knee injury suffered last training camp is battling Robert Meachem and some other young wideouts.
Morgan has been full go since training camp started and has had an interesting camp. Two things to me that have stood out is the ball isn’t bouncing his way and he appears to not be back to his old self.
Several times Morgan has been open deep and the ball is either over thrown, batted down or simply incomplete. I feel like he hasn’t had that one or two grabs that make you say there he is and write the play down in my notes. Tuesday in a team period he was thrown a quick out towards the right sideline. Morgan caught it and its when he turned up field is that I did write something down. He didn’t take it up the field or explode up the sidelines. Morgan was single covered and instead pulled up, briefly extended a stiff arm on the defender and ran out of bounds. It was so unusually I kept following him thinking maybe he hurt something by the way he just bailed out of bounds. There was plenty of room to advance and frankly with his speed you’d think it was a play to take advantage of the match up. Saturday’s scrimmage may tell us more.
QB COMPETITIONS: The Saints quarterback competitions that Drew Brees, Luke McCown, Ryan Griffin and Logan Kilgore have following practice have become a bit of a story this training camp. The competive level is intense as even coaches like Payton and offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael, quarterbacks coach Mike Neu have participated.
The competitions are set up like drills really ranging from hitting goal posts, a target on a moving truck, an American Gladiator style set up complete with dodging tennis balls and skeet shooting. The fans get a rise out of seeing it take place and the team has taken to posting them on the web via the team website or social media. It seems like fun but for Brees it’s simply a way to work on things they’ll do in a game and at their position.
“We try to incorporate something that happened in practice that day,” Brees explained. “For example we just had a QB competition down there that involved throwing on the run. We missed a couple of throws throwing on the run today so obviously it’s something we got to work on but can have fun with it to. So we’re going to make a competition out of it, set up some bags and throw at them and there’s going to be a winner and three losers.”
White Sulphur Springs, W. Va. – (Day 3, 7-27-14) The New Orleans Saints wrapped up their first padded practice of training camp on Sunday and as expected it provided with plenty of highlights. Threatening weather stayed away until the final minutes of practice when thunderstorms hit the area.
There were plenty of strikes on the field provided by both sides of the ball.
WHO STOOD OUT: Let’s start out with the PLAY OF THE DAY as it came during a team period. Quarterback Drew Brees hit fullback Erik Lorig out of the backfield and was picked up by cornerback Champ Bailey. Lorig then tried to stiff-arm Baily, who later told us he took exception to the stiff-arm and felt he needed to get even, he got even by stripping the ball out. Safety Raphael Bush hustled over to the ball saving it inches from the sideline and in one athletic swoop lobbed the ball over his head and into the waiting arms of Baily. Champ knew what to do with it from there as he took off running towards the endzone.
WR Nick Toon continues to impress with his steady play. Toon is just playing very consistent catching everything thrown his way and is showing that he indeed has that burst to break it into a bigger play after the catch. Saturday, Toon scored a pair of touchdowns one 50-plus yards and the other a 40-plus yarder. The longer one showed Toon’s ability to get behind the linebackers and catch it in traffic as S Rafael Bush was coming in on the play. Toon after making the catch took off and scored outrunning defenders for a good 20 yards.
Toon once again showed his speed on Sunday during one-on-one passing drills. Lined up on Bush he beat him on a double move along the sideline and made a nice grab out in front of him as Bush trailed. Toon scored. Head coach Sean Payton for the second straight day acknowledged his play and said he’s not only proving his deserving of a roster spot but deserving of playing time and plays being called for him.
Toon’s play is not surprising to me following his solid showing during OTAs and Mini Camp. I truly feel there are four spots locked up at the WR position group with Marques Colston, Brandin Cooks, Kenny Stills, and Nick Toon. Joe Morgan, Robert Meachem. The battle for a fifth or even sixth spot will be fun to watch as youngster Seantavius Jones and Charles Hawkins. Undrafted rookie free-agent Brandon Coleman also is playing much better since the spring although I still believe his best bet is the practice squad.
TE Jimmy Graham had another typical Jimmy Graham day. In other words makes catches that well helped him become the NFL’s highest paid at his position. In a team period, Graham lined up on the outside and safety Kenny Vaccro was tasked to cover him. Graham was the target from the beginning and Brees delivered a perfect ball to him. Graham after the completion, which he and Brees made look easy even though it was about a 40-yard toss and catch, Graham turned to the media on sidelines and said, “too easy right?”
LB JUNIO GALETT is hilarious to watch practice. Galette is easily one of the most vocal players during drills and plays on the field in team periods when the competition level is increased. I don’t believe there is a member on the offense he hasn’t talked smack to and in team periods you’d think it was gameday. Galette towards the end of one drill lined up against third string right tackle Ty Nsekhe. The second year player had no prayer. Granted I’m sure he wasn’t expecting Rob Ryan to put in his first unit in for a play to end the period but he well he was toast before the play. Galette flinched to try and get Nsekhe to jump and he did. The Play went on as no flag are being thrown. At the snap, Galette treated the tackle like a blocking sled picking him up while pushing him backwards and then simply flung him to his left, at which point he took three steps and stopped or he would have killed QB Logan Kilgore.
THE WRONG KIND OF STANDING OUT: RB Kihry Robinson will have an increased role this season in the team’s running game. Robinson is only in his second season and last year at training camp he was battling to make the team. Sunday he stood out for the wrong reason as he went the wrong way during team drills not once but twice. The second time Payton verbally reminded him “Come on…that’s TWICE TODAY! LET GO!” Robinson has been solid however overall and this is the time to make mistakes not the regular season. Robinson is still learning but he looks lean and fast and I believe fans will be happy with him once the season begins.
INJURY: WR Robert Meachem left practice early as he suffered from a stiff back according to Payton. Coach said it was no big deal and didn’t expect it to be a lingering issue. WR Kenny Still missed his second day of practice spending most of it on the exercise bike with rookie offensive lineman Tavon Rooks. S Jairus Byrd and DT John Jenkins spent practice doing individual conditioning and drills that involved agility moves.
TURNOVERS: The Saints defense finished the season as the fourth best defense in the NFL. Payton and defensive coordinator Rob Ryan have stressed repeatedly and we’ve seen it reflected in players we interview the important of turnovers. Sunday saw the first interception of training camp and the second strip fumble. The pick came as QB Luke McCown was trying to hit a Saints tight end over the middle and LB Ramon Humber leapt up, tipped the ball and as he came down, managed to corral the ball for the interception.
The second turnover of the day came on the Bailey strip. To date the Saints defense has created three turnovers through three days of practices.
HERE COMES THE RAIN: Sunday’s forecast called for heavy rains most of the day. There was overnight rain but the new fields held up and despite the dark skies the rain stayed away until the final minutes of practice. That’s when the heavens opened up. During the interview portion following practice no one was spared. Not players, media, fans or equipment. Rookie Brandin Cooks joked that despite playing at Oregon State this was the first time he had done a media session in a thunderstorm.
White Sulphur Springs, W. Va. – (Day 1) The New Orleans Saints wrapped up their first day of practice on Friday with a day that featured a nod to mother nature, an injury, and a roster move that was portrayed as not that big a deal.
Temperatures were in the lows 60s when the sun rose Friday morning and Saints players were greeted to something very different than that they are used to. Saints quarterback Drew Brews commented after practice that as he begin the stretching segment of the practice he turned to running back Pierre Thomas and said something he’d never said before. Brees mentioned to Thomas that it was the first time he was laying on cold grass. Normally the grass would be hot in Metairie and Brees said it felt like it was 55 degrees and was noticeable.
Several players mentioned the difference already with just one day into training camp about how the cooler temperatures have had and can affect the work being done on the field. One example was the fact the Saints wrapped up practice about a half hour earlier. Yet observing the work and hearing from players the team definitely got accomplished what they wanted to accomplish.
Right tackle Zach Strief pointed out that the wear and tear on the body by having to deal or get through practices where the temperatures are over 100 degrees with the heat index takes a toll. Recovery time, aches and mental aspects are effected. Linebacker Curtis Lofton said that in Metairie he loses an average of eight pounds a practice where on Friday he felt it may have been about two.
The injury happened to WR Kenny Stills who pulled up lame on a deep route along the left sideline. Stills, covered by Champ Bailey, walked off the field after speaking with trainers. Head coach Sean Payton following practice said Stills had been dealing with a tight right quad muscle the last two weeks.
As for the roster move, it was safety Jairus Byrd being placed on the Physically Unable to Perform list (PUP). Payton said after practice the move was more about making sure that Byrd, who had back surgery around the start of Organized Team Activities, comes back at a smart pace. Payton said that Byrd should be back on the roster before the team leaves camp here in West Virginia.
GAME PLAN: The Saints are expecting a large crowd for Saturday’s morning practice. Four to five thousand people are expected as part of a special “Picnic with the Saints” promotion being put on by the Greenbrier. Local radio ads spoke of the chance to meet and greet Saints players and have lunch with them as part of a package.
Sunday the fun really begins. To start off with rain is expected around the time of practice, add to it that it will be the first practice in which the Saints will use full pads and it could produce some fun moments. The last time Saints players were in full pads was at Seattle in the playoff game six months ago.
NOT A LONG TIME TO GET NOTICED: The play of the day came from the Saints first round draft-pick Brandin Cooks. Saints quarterback Drew Brees was looking to hit Cooks on a deep post route. The ball was a tad short and cooks and safety Ty Zimmerman went up for it. Cooks out jumped Zimmerman and got to the ball first coming down hard but managing to hold on to the ball.
NOT A MASTER OF THE GRIDIRON: Two-time Master’s Champion Bubba Watson was at Saints practice on Friday. Watson, who won the Master’s one of Golf’s major championships this past April, has a home minutes from where the team is practicing. Watson was seen speaking several times with Saints head coach Sean Payton and after one conversation a plan was hatched.
The team went into an 11-on-11 team drill and on the first play everything looked normal as Saints quarterback Drew Brees rolled to his right. Brees then however stopped and threw back across the field to the left where Watson ran onto the field from the sidelines. Brees’ pass was on target but slightly short, still reaching and hitting Watson in the breadbasket. The Master’s champ bobbled the pass and then dropped it. Several players gave him the business and after practice Payton eluded Watson should keep to the links. Brees said Waston was claiming quarterback error and the Saints signal caller vowed to get some extra work in with Watson before they leave camp to make sure a do-over takes place and this time the connection results in a touchdown.
White Sulphur Springs, W. Va. – The New Orleans Saints are finally getting closer to getting Training Camp 2014 underway as the team arrived Thursday afternoon. Residents in Lewisburg and White Sulphur Springs greeted the team in the streets of the small towns.
Many businesses have Saints flags or signs welcoming the team to their home for the next three weeks. The Saints will hold 20 practices here in West Virginia before returning home to take on the Tennessee Titans on Friday August 15 in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. The team will then hold six practices at the training facility in Metairie and hold one practice at Mandeville High School.
GAME PLAN: The Saints will go through their required conditioning tests today. Last year head coach Sean Payton threw in a few wrinkles based on his workouts while doing cross fit. Players spoke about how they were a tad more challenging. Will there be new elements this year? Saints General Manager Mickey Loomis and Payton will speak to the media at 5:45 and 6:00 pm EST today. The team’s first practice is Friday morning at 8:50 am.
CONDITIONING TESTS COULD GIVE HINTS: Two players I’m interested in if they complete and more importantly pass the tests are receiver Joe Morgan and safety Jairus Byrd. Morgan and Byrd both did not participate in the Saints Organized Training Activities or Mini Camp held in May and June. Morgan suffered a season ending knee injury during the Black and Gold scrimmage last season in training camp and Byrd underwent back surgery just after signing a new six-year $54 million dollar free agent deal a few months back.
Passing the tests would be a big sign they are on the way to full health status and closer to action on the field. It remains to be seen how they will be brought back into the fold. Will the team bring them back slowly keeping an eye on their minutes and amount of snaps during training camp? Byrd needs to be ready for September 7 when the regular season kicks off. Morgan I feel could be competing for a roster spot.
A healthy Bryd could really bolster what I already feel is a solid set of safeties. Bryd brings 22 career interceptions with him and a physical style of play that should compliment Kenny Vaccaro. Rafeal Bush had a solid offseason of on the field work by what we saw and heard from coaches.
Morgan made a splash two seasons ago by earning a spot on the team and being a down the field threat. That said he only has 10 receptions 379 yards and 3 touchdowns to his name. Receivers Marques Colston, Kenny Still, and rookie Brandin Cooks no doubt will see most of the action. Nick Toon to me has a solid shot at being a fourth receiver the offense counts on as he had solid OTA and mini camp practices. Payton also said he expects Toon to push for a bigger role this season.
I feel that leaves Morgan competing with veteran Robert Meachem for a key fifth spot on the roster. That means it vital for Morgan to spend as much time on the field showing coaches he deserves to still be in the team’s plans.