Saints Training Camp Recap, Day 15
It was a later practice for the Saints, but Day 15 certainly delivered. Derek Carr, Jameis Winston both looked sharp in two-minute.
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00:00 Hello everyone and welcome back to another breakdown of Saints
00:04 Training Camp day fifteen. A little bit different. We had an
00:09 evening practice and you know, look, it's late but we got work
00:12 to do. So, we're gonna dive into it very shortly but before
00:15 we do, just wanna give a shout out to Justin Burgess at Ben
00:18 Pro for sponsoring today's show. Again, if you have a
00:21 business that's in the greater New Orleans region and you need
00:24 help with employee benefits or health insurance, give Justin a
00:28 call 504-888-8038. He's gonna take great care of you and tell
00:33 him that John Hendrick sent you. Thanks again to Justin
00:36 Burgess for sponsoring today's show. Day fifteen, like I said,
00:40 it was a little bit different. So, 4 PM practice or 430 when
00:44 we were able to get out there to about 615. Runs a little bit
00:47 later because of the interviews and stuff afterwards and so it
00:50 was a late night. Work on the recap and all the such and all
00:53 that and such but you know, look, this is part of the
00:56 territory. This is what we do and what we signed up for. So,
00:59 look, I think the first point we'll hit on. Talk about
01:04 injuries and talk about attendance. So, the first big
01:06 thing was DeMario Davis was back. You know, he's been
01:08 dealing with that calf injury. So, he was back at practice and
01:12 so let's just obviously say that he's back at practice. He
01:15 was in there for stretch. Did not participate in seven on
01:18 seven or team drills or anything. Look, the Saints are
01:20 gonna be cautious here like they are with all their injured
01:23 players that come back. They're gonna basically just hey,
01:27 let's let's ease him into action. Let's get him back in
01:29 the flow of things and so I don't know if we'll see too
01:32 much of DeMario Davis when it comes to joint practices with
01:35 chargers. So, that's something to pay attention to but he was
01:39 back. That was good. Also saw Lucas Kroll doing some work
01:42 with the trainer. That's encouraging too. He's a guy
01:45 that really needs to get back up to speed. Got hurt on a
01:48 really crazy play inside a few days ago and so those things
01:54 they suck but you know, hopefully he can come back
01:56 sooner rather than later and of course, we got a real positive
01:59 update. I saw Kendra Miller at the beginning of stretch and
02:01 then he came out later to observe practice as as kind of
02:05 an innocent bystander but you know, look, he got better news
02:10 on his niece. It's a niece brain minor. They got better
02:13 news. He's gonna make the travel or he's gonna travel
02:16 with the team up to California. So, good news there. So, those
02:20 who weren't there, same cast and characters except for two
02:24 wrinkles, Michael Thomas, Cam Jordan weren't there. Veteran
02:27 rest days, you know, Dennis Allen said, he got a full game
02:30 of work in. It's been a little bit since he's had that. So, he
02:34 gave him extra veteran day off for recovery and such but you
02:38 know, Treyquan Smith still dealing with the groin. Rashid
02:40 Shaheed still dealing with the groin. Kirk Merritt, Hamstring,
02:44 Landon Young. Again, we we heard it was a sprain MCL.
02:48 Still waiting on confirmation for all that and see what his
02:51 prognosis is. Andras Pete with quad, Jesse James, also groin,
02:56 Kroll with the tailbone, and then, you know, we had Cam
02:59 Jordan. So, as far as practice goes, I mean, real
03:02 interesting. We didn't see any of Jay Caner today. It was all
03:05 Derek Carr and Jameis Winston and so, we saw them at seven on
03:08 sevens and so they ended up like rotating play or rotating
03:12 series and so like you had Carr do his then Winston came in and
03:17 he had Carr do his and then Winston came in and such and so
03:20 we had that a little bit but you know, that was kind of the
03:22 flow of it. I I thought seven on sevens. They later moved over
03:25 to the red zone and such. Um some real big highlights there.
03:29 I think that we see in there. I think Jawan Johnson is a guy
03:32 that continues to impress. I really love what I saw from him
03:36 in the Chiefs game which we didn't really even talk about
03:39 on this but you know, look, this is training camp. We'll
03:41 kind of stick to that but you know, I thought I was really
03:44 encouraged with the game. I saw everything I needed to see from
03:47 the starters. I really don't need to see them again.
03:50 Interestingly, interestingly enough, Dennis Allen was asked
03:54 if we're going to see Derek Carr against the Chargers. He
03:56 said, we'll see. I'm inclined to think that he's not going to
03:59 play on Sunday. Don't quote me on that but I think that the
04:03 joint practices with the Chargers are going to hold a
04:06 little bit more weight there just to be able to get some of
04:08 that experience. I'd be pretty surprised if they do play but
04:11 we will see because I think we got all the answers we need
04:14 from the first team offense and defense. There's really no
04:17 reason to roll them out there in my opinion but again, I'm
04:20 not the head coach in the Northern States. We'll see how
04:22 that kind of rolls out but sevens, you know, look, I
04:26 thought that you had a couple of good things out there.
04:30 Really, the highlights were in team and so, a couple team
04:34 sessions where they were able to go from basically on the
04:38 opposite side of the fifty and then they moved into the red
04:41 zone action. You know, defense was was holding tough in seven
04:45 on sevens and in the early part of team drills only gave up
04:48 what one touchdown. I think that was Kwon Baker on one of
04:52 the routes from Jamis if I'm not mistaken and he actually
04:56 had a keeper inside for a touchdown as well and so look,
05:00 I mean, you see some of these things that that transpire
05:03 through this and you know, it's good to see some of that type
05:07 of stuff and actually, I think Kwon was a seven on seven if
05:12 I'm not mistaken. Yep, it was seven on seven. So, don't go
05:15 back or let me back up. It was from seven yard line. He had a
05:19 nice little route against Marshall on seven on sevens
05:21 made a nice little juke at the one and got in from Winston. So,
05:25 that was a good highlight from seven on sevens and as far as
05:27 team goes again, a few things pop. I thought that Carl
05:32 Granderson continues to improve. He continues to show
05:35 up. His pass rush is great. I know he didn't really do too
05:38 much against the Chiefs but he's been doing it in practice.
05:41 I think it's just a matter of time before we do see a lot of
05:43 that click and kind of come through on a different level.
05:47 You know, Nathan Shepherd showing up. Brian Versailles, I
05:50 thought he had a really good rep and getting in off the ball
05:52 and getting into the backfield to try to blow up and get
05:55 pressure on car and such. I think those things are coming,
05:58 right? And so, I'm excited about this defensive line. My
06:02 question, Mark, is the linebacker spot in the
06:05 offensive line. Talked about it on here. Linebacker, I think
06:08 they have some unsung heroes. Jalen Smith was very active
06:11 today. You know, we talked to him after practice. He's very
06:14 excited to be here obviously. You know, just another stop
06:17 because he was with Dallas and then he had in Rebay, New York
06:21 and such. So, I mean, it was a little bit different for him as
06:25 where his career trajectory has gone and such but look, I think
06:29 for him, it's one of those things where he was getting a
06:33 lot of work with Pete Warner, you know, working alongside
06:36 with him as far as it goes with, you know, nickel coverage
06:40 and such. So, I thought that it was really interesting to see
06:43 Jalen Smith do a lot of work here and there and look, he was
06:47 pretty active and so I think he's learning. He said it's a
06:49 familiar system. It's the first time he's worked with the
06:52 defensive head coach. He's most everybody that he's with or
06:55 everybody else that he's been with is offensive minded. So,
06:58 maybe he's somebody that can make a push and try to make a
07:01 case for the roster. Worst case, maybe he's a practice squad
07:04 guy but again, other teams are going to be interested. We'll
07:08 see how that kind of plays out but really, the highlights of
07:10 the day came in 2 minutes and so, just kind of set the scene
07:14 for you is the offense was working at 130 on the clock,
07:19 two timeouts. They had it on their own thirty-five. They
07:22 needed a touchdown to get in and so, what's interesting is
07:26 both James Winston and Derek Carr led touchdown drives and
07:30 they got him in the last 10, 15 seconds and it was just nice
07:34 because they converted both. Both of them converted a fourth
07:37 down to be able to extend drive in the series. So, I thought
07:40 that was nice. You know, going on Carr's drive, look, you know,
07:44 he had a couple of good passes. One, you know, it was a seam
07:48 route up to Juwan Johnson for a big gain. It kind of flipped
07:51 the field if you will and so, then you had Alvin Kamara get
07:55 back to back touches and such. I thought that was really good
07:58 on him. You know, Chris Alave again, didn't really do much in
08:02 the first game which is fine because I mean, think about
08:04 this offense. He didn't really, he didn't touch the ball. He
08:06 got the first target but they still were able to beat him
08:10 with Juwan Johnson, Michael Thomas, Kamara, and running
08:13 football. I mean, this is what we hope for, right? And Kirkwood
08:16 gets the the reward at the end with the touchdown but you know,
08:20 as far as it goes, he made a really cool catch off the
08:23 sideline working against Alante Taylor. The ball was a
08:26 little bit low but he was able to get it and kind of scooping
08:29 underneath to get the cut, the catch and then as far as
08:33 touchdown, I was seven seconds left. They were from the nine
08:35 yard line. He finds Juwan Johnson in the back of the end
08:39 zone. Latimore and Matthew were the closest that were there and
08:43 so that was a big moment because you know, sticking with
08:46 the play, you get Johnson for the touchdown. Now, they did
08:49 put Blake Groupie in there for the extra point and so he made
08:53 that and he actually hit all six of his kicks. Two were extra
08:56 points. Four were actually field goals and from that 35 to 44
09:00 yard range but then one of the things Rizzy, Darren Rizzy came
09:04 in as special teams coach and simulated a penalty on the
09:08 defense which would move the two-point conversion from the
09:12 two to the one. You know, it's it's half the distance to goal
09:14 so it puts it to one. So, they rolled out the offense to do a
09:17 two-point in both series. Now, Groupie didn't kick in the
09:21 second one when Jamis had it but you know, they get the
09:24 two-point conversion, Alvin Kamara inside for a touchdown
09:28 run and they win that series and then Jamis comes, you know,
09:32 his series was pretty good. His big hook up. Again, he
09:36 converted a fourth down play, a short little pass to Ellis
09:40 Merriweather who had a pretty good preseason game. I'm really
09:43 interested to see more of him possibly a late comer. Again,
09:48 probably practice squad more than anything unless something
09:51 crazy, you know, happens. Again, I think we have to pay
09:54 attention to what happens to Kirk Merritt but you know,
09:56 don't say, never say never but his big play was when they were
10:00 on the 42-yard line of the defense. He had a 23-yard hook
10:04 up to Jimmy Graham up the seam. Perfectly thrown ball. Perfect
10:09 catch from Jimmy. You know, Zach Bond tried to stick his
10:12 hand out to try to get one on it. It was right there in front
10:14 of Jonathan Abram. So, that was a big Jimmy moment if you will
10:19 and so that was something we're waiting to see. I know we got
10:21 that one catch in Chiefs game and everybody just erupted but
10:24 you know, look, it was interesting just sequence of
10:28 events and I really love that hook up from Jamis and then as
10:32 far as the the play that went in the play of the day if you
10:35 will. They were from the third and ten from the 19-yard line
10:39 so they had a spike after that. Then they tried to back
10:42 shoulder to Adam Prentice who had a couple of targets today.
10:46 He just couldn't get him in but he had a touchdown to the post
10:51 with Shaq Davis from 19 yards out. Look, this was an insane
10:56 catch. Not as good as what we saw from Keith Kirk with the
10:59 other day but back of the end zone goes up for one handed
11:03 comes down. I can't. I don't know how he stayed in bounds but
11:08 they gave it to him and it was a big moment for him. Shaq
11:11 Davis is a guy that I think is ascended a little bit. You saw
11:14 this team released James Washington in favor of Darrell
11:17 Williams. Look, I think Washington is a guy that just
11:21 you know, it didn't really, I thought he was ahead a little
11:23 bit in some aspects but I've been telling you guys that it's
11:26 been Keith Kirkwood, Treyquan Smith, it's the guys and then
11:30 AT Perry having a really good game but Washington was did a
11:34 few things here and there. I thought Brian Edwards had a
11:36 really good week of practice. Did a little bit the things in
11:39 the Chiefs game but you know, Washington just never really
11:43 got opportunities, chances, I guess in a way to to really
11:46 showcase what he's about and you know, this is the NFL and
11:49 so those things happen for a veteran like him. Hopefully, it
11:52 lands on his feet but Shaq Davis, big moment again, guy
11:55 that I think can end up on the practice squad here but that
11:59 was a really good hook up and I wish we had video but we don't
12:03 and then on the two-point conversion for Winston, he
12:06 found Foster Moreau in the back or in the left end zone over
12:11 Jonathan Abram and so he'll get the two-point conversion. So,
12:14 those are things you like to see. Defense had the first
12:17 first part of it. They they won that but offense had the last
12:21 laugh. So, those are things you love to see. Uh again, we're
12:25 really excited. You know, take off on Wednesday tomorrow for
12:30 LA or when we'll be in Orange County because they're the
12:33 facility is in Costa Mesa. The game's in LA at SoFi. So, we'll
12:36 be out there. Me and Ross Jackson, we're gonna give you
12:39 all the coverage from joint practices which are gonna be on
12:42 Thursday and Friday. So, tomorrow is gonna be the travel
12:44 day for everybody. Thursday starts joint practices. Uh
12:48 believe it's nine to eleven in their time. So, adjust
12:51 accordingly. We'll be there with reactions, interviews, all
12:55 the nine yards and then I'll be out there for the game on
12:58 Sunday. So, which is actually gonna be nationally televised.
13:01 I say nationally. It's gonna be available on NFL Network. Put
13:04 it that way. Last week's was available on NFL Network when
13:08 they suited up against the Chiefs. This one's gonna be on
13:11 the NFL Network. The game against the Texans. The finale
13:14 is gonna be a nationally televised broadcast on Fox. So,
13:17 really exciting news. Again, thanks to Justin Burgess for
13:21 producing today's show and sponsoring today's show. I
13:23 really appreciate all you guys support. Thank you so much. We
13:26 will talk at you in California. Have a good one and be good
13:30 people.