If you're of the belief that training camp doesn't really start until the first fight, well, we got that today -- and from a player you might find surprising.
Late in practice it appeared Brandin Cooks took exception to something either said or done by Rezjohn Wright. Alontae Taylor and others got involved and a minor brawl ensued. No one was removed from practice, but the statement was made.
“Those things are going to come up," head coach Kellen Moore said after practice. "You’re going through great work and obviously you want to try and eliminate those as much as you can, but sometimes it’s good to get guys to rally together and we’ll be just fine.”
It was a warmer day and perhaps that played a role. Regardless, good to see some intensity in what have otherwise been a pair of ho-hum days.
TAKING ATTENDANCE
Nothing really of note here. For the second consecutive day everyone was in attendance other than Foster Moreau and Taysom Hill, both of whom are on the PUP list as they work back from their respective knee injuries.
Two new players did arrive in Jonathan Bullard (58) and Julian Blackmon (28), both of whom were officially signed on Wednesday.
GRADING THE QBS
It's still way too early to get a read on how the competition is going. There's no doubt that Spencer Rattler has looked more comfortable executing the new offense, but that's what we all should've expected.
Tyler Shough took the first-team reps and got better as the day went on. His first four reps started with a scramble where it looked like he didn't trust the read, then a pair of handoffs to Alvin Kamara and Kendre Miller (who got work with the 1s today), then completed a ball to Treyton Welch that forced the TE to do a bit too much work to haul it in and he was tackled immediately.
The Saints took things into the red zone, and while he still looked a bit sped up, but Shough settled in on his second set of reps, completing all four of his passes, the first to Brandin Cooks underneath, then an out to Kamara and a ball over the middle to Welch that Alontae Taylor ripped out, but I'm still calling a catch. Shough's two best throws of the day went to Rashid Shaheed, with the first a slow developing play with a well placed ball up the right sideline as the speedster worked across the field.
We'll give a bit of credit to the defense here, because there wasn't much to be had on a lot of these sets. Kool-Aid McKinstry and Quincy Riley both covered well on the day and Shough did well to keep the ball out of harm's way. Shough's final pass of the day was a nice moment where the defense dialed up pressure and Shough got the ball out to his WR (a bit low but catchable) for a nice TD.
At times I think the rookie relies a bit too much on his ability to deliver off-platform. When there's time to step into throws, I'd like to see him do it. I'd like to see more consistent accuracy as we move forward. I expect we will.
Spencer Rattler followed up a 9-for-9 start to camp with another strong day, though he was guilty of throwing the first INT of camp, more on that below.
He worked with the 2s and continued to run smooth offense, though there were some procedural issues later in the day. His first rep of the day was a throwback screen to Velus Jones -- similar to what we saw on Day 1 -- and he later found Michael Jacobson up the seam after a play action fake. Again, the timing just felt on when he was behind center.
Rattler completed his next three passes, the first a deep out to Olave brought the ball close to the end zone. The Rattler-Olave connection has been strong to this point. He also completed balls to Jack Stoll and Jones before an incompletion targeting Moliki Matavao. This ball I'd say was incomplete because of a good decision. No one was open, rather than force a throw he gave Matavao a chance, but didn't put the ball in danger. That's what you want to see.
The next set of red zone drills got a bit wonky after a completion to Matavao with a pair of false start penalties (unclear on who these were called on), followed by a would-be sack by Chris Rumph. Then there was the interception, which Rattler said was an attempted throwaway in the back of the end zone, where Dante Pettis was battling Quincy Riley. The rookie DB won that battle for his first INT of camp, but Rattler bounced back the next play with a good decision and a scramble up the middle for a TD.
Jake Haener again took the third-team reps, but looked good doing it. He connected with Juwan Johnson on a pair of nice throws -- one of which went for a toe-tap touchdown, and looks like a confident player. Kellen Moore hedged a bit, but did indicate that Haener would be getting at least some first team reps on Friday, we'll have to wait and see.
Again, overreacting to mistakes isn't the answer. We're still so early in the process that the takeaways here are where the baseline is. We'll have a better picture once the pads come on.
TE LOOKS THIN
Juwan Johnson got paid this offseason, and man, he better deliver because I just don't know where else the production is going to come from. Stoll flashed sketchy hands for the second day in a row, and I just don't see a ton of upside in Welch. Matavao looks like a solid young player, but he profiles more as an edge, blocking player at this point in his career.
We'll see what happens with the injured guys in Moreau and Taysom, but this could easily become a trouble position if Juwan can't stay healthy.
FORD RUNNING
I don't know how much of a role there is to be had at this point, but Jaylan Ford's athleticism has really stood out to me to this point in camp. He's a guy that dealt with injuries to both hamstrings in camp last year and he really didn't have a chance to make much of an impact. I think he's got the ability to be a true sideline-to-sideline player, and if Demario Davis or Werner have to miss time, I'd expect him to be next on that list.
MILLER DAY
I'll start this by saying it's really difficult to evaluate a ton with the running backs until the pads come on and there's more thudding, but I thought Kendre Miller showed some good burst and vision today navigating on some rush opportunities. He has a bad habit of disappearing in these settings, and often that's meant literally. This is the furthest he's made it into training camp in his career without missed time due to injury (knock on wood) so hopefully he can keep that going.
SMYTH-FIRE
We know Charlie Smyth has a massive leg. No one will ever doubt that. The problem is, you don't win jobs with the "wow" kicks, you win them by being rock-steady on the ho-hum kicks, and when he struggles, that seems to be where it is. Look no further than today, when he went 2-of-5 on his first five kicks of camp, all inside 50 yards (Blake Grupe went 5-of-5 yesterday. More concerning than the misses was how wild they seemed to be. One went to the right, and another two were pushed to the left with the final miss by a pretty wide margin. You might even argue there was a 4th miss, but I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt.
No one is winning or losing a job on the second day of practice and hopefully there was simply a technical issue today (maybe a holding issue?) that can be ironed out. But this did serve to emphasize one important thing: Smyth needs to lock down inside 50, otherwise this won't be much of a conversation.