It was clear long before Jake Haener found Mason Tipton for a walkoff TD that sent the Saints sidelines into a frenzy: The energy was different at Thursday's training camp practice, and different in a good way.
From the start of the indoor session the tempo was up and the physicality was clear. After a week battling the heat and humidity, things hit a different gear indoors and ahead of a scheduled off day.
The peak moments came on the final set of drills, a situational drive that saw the third-team offense, led by Jake Haener, starting a drive at their own 30-yard line and needing a touchdown with 1:40 to go and one timeout. The drive started out with two completions to Seth Green and a run to Kendre Miller. A sack by Jasheen Davis -- his third of the day -- pushed the drive back to 4th and 15. That's when Haener unleashed a ball up the seam to Dante Pettis who was splitting double coverage. He didn't appear to see the ball until the last possible moment, but he hung on for a 30-yard gain that had the team in business in plus territory with about 30 seconds to go.
After an incompletion, Haener found completions to Pettis and Michael Jacobson. Haener then found Mason Tipton, who stepped out of bounds with 2 seconds left that set up the Saints at the 13 for one final play -- or so we thought. Haener took the ball and scrambled, eventually targeting Tipton again in the back of the endzone who had been chucked out of bounds by Rezjohn Wright. The defense celebrated until a late -- and somewhat controversial -- flag was dropped by the refs on hand.
"Boo 'em," a player could be heard yelling in regard to the refs. They were displeased.
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Haener made the penalty count, extending another play before finding Tipton for the walkoff TD in the back corner of the end zone. Pandemonium ensued. The defense sprinted onto the field to question the refs, in good fun, of course. Chris Rumph even grabbed a flag from the ref's belt and threw it into the air to express his displeasure.
When asked after the practice if he disagreed with the call, Kellen Moore kept it simple: "It doesn't matter."
And he's right. These situations are intended to stress players in specific situations. The defense found that out the hard way. It was a lot of fun and, more importantly, this team seems to be building toward the season in positive ways. The energy today was indicative of that, even if it came from the third string.
TAKING ATTENDANCE
The best injury news of the day was that Juwan Johnson was back at practice in full pads after leaving yesterday's session early with a groin injury. The TE was limited, but did participate in individual work and seems on track for a quick return. That's a good sign, because the Saints really can't afford to be without him this year.
The same couldn't be said for DT John Ridgeway and TE Treyton Welch, both of whom missed the day after leaving Wednesday with an injury. S J.T. Gray also missed a second consecutive practice as he works back from a hamstring issue.
The only other attendance chance was the absence of Hunter Dekkers, who was waived by the team. The Saints opted to fill that roster spot with punter Kai Kroeger, who was in town for a tryout earlier in the week.
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QB WATCH
It was Spencer Rattler back with the first-team offense, and it's really starting to feel like he's building a gap in the QB competition. His best moment of the day came in red zone work when he evaded pressure from Chase Young -- Chase would argue he got the sack -- and lofted a ball to Rashid Shaheed in the back of the end zone over tight coverage from Alontae Taylor.
Rattler also led a 2-minute drive in a similar scenario to the one detailed above, but it bogged down at about the 35 yard line. There would've been a Hail Mary opportunity in a game, but the Saints opted not to run it to avoid any injury risk. Rattler continues to make good decisions with the ball, and his scrambles have been well timed. If he can protect the ball, I think you can win games with him.
Tyler Shough had his most aggressive day throwing the ball, and I appreciate that, there have just been a few too many reps that have him looking lost. Some of that could be attributed in part to some low snaps, with Will Clapp working as the second-team center. That was very evident in his situational drive that turned into a disaster after a sack, a fumbled snap and another sack that would've ended the situation somewhere in the 4th and 30 range. Suboptimal.
Shough threw his first two interceptions of camp today, but I didn't mind the first decision. He rescued a low snap and fired a ball to Cedrick Wilson up the right sideline, but a defender got in and tipped up the ball, which Nephi Sewell collected before it hit the ground. The second interception was a tougher watch in red zone, with Shough appearing to turn an ankle as he planted to throw and his ball targeting Wilson up the seam fluttered into Jordan Howden's arms.
It wasn't all bad, though. Shough did bounce back quickly after that interception with a layered ball to Kevin Austin inside the 10, followed by a touchdown to Tipton. He also made an aggressive read early in practice when he targeted Chris Olave isolated in coverage against safety Terrell Burgess. Olave didn't come down with the ball, but he did draw a flag. Good things happen when you give your star receivers chances downfield.
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At this stage I think the competition element might be doing more harm than good, because every learning moment is turning into a loss. In reality you have a rookie in his second week of camp practice looking like a rookie in his second camp practice. I'd much rather see him building confidence than trying to be perfect. I'm starting to think the best thing the Saints could do for Shough might be to end the competition early, name Rattler the starter and allow him to develop in the background. Remember, Shough was the No. 40 pick, not the No. 4 pick. He needs more time in the developmental oven and less time under the national microscope.
That's just my 2 cents. There's still a long way to go in this competition and I hope he takes advantage of the off day on Friday so he can deliver strong performances over the weekend. A difficult first week of practice is only a problem if he doesn't digest the lessons and take steps forward in the coming weeks.
KELLEN MOORE THROWING
Is this what it's like having a cool dad? Kellen Moore was throwing footballs to his players on Thursday. That's all I have for that note. Video below.
REFS ON HAND
One thing that I think is paying dividends is Kellen Moore's decision to bring refs to every practice. Sometimes the NFL will provide them, and when they don't he brings in high school refs from around the area.
Are they completely up on NFL rules? Maybe not. But they do provide an arbiter to keep defensive players honest. We witnessed a fun interaction with one such ref and Ike Yiadom today where they were debating a PI call on Olave.
It's really easy for defensive players to develop bad habits when they win reps by fouling, and there's no one there for the immediate feedback. Just another example of, in my opinion, a subtle but effective coaching decision that we hadn't seen before.
SECOND TEAM STRUGGLES
One of the reasons Tyler Shough's day might not be as rough as it appeared was that he was getting no favors from his protection. As mentioned, Jasheen Davis got through for three sacks on the day, but he wasn't alone. The second and third-team defenses was feasting in the backfield. Chris Rumph had a pair of sacks and there was pressure on almost every snap.
It's another year that I feel pretty good about the starters, but if you lose one guy with an injury things can come unglued fast. I'm especially concerned about the second-string tackles.
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KELVIN BANKS AHEAD OF THE CURVE
I expected to have at least a few notes along the lines of "Banks got rooked" at this point. I do not have them. I watched the rookie LT a good bit during this session, and every time he delivered.
On one rep he was isolated on Bryan Bresee and had no problem stonewalling a spin move. On the next rep it was a Chase Young bullrush that he rode wide and out of danger for his QB.
There seems to be some challenge in handling the wide rushes that exist within this defense, but that's true for everybody, and the QB understanding when to step up in the pocket is as important to managing that as anything. I think the Saints are in a really good spot with their tackles, and they will be for a while.
GRUPE GANG (again)
Another Blake Grupe day, another ho-hum 5-for-5 with makes from PAT distance, then 40 (right hashmark), 46 (left), 51 (right) and 53 (left). Every kick appeared to split the uprights.
Grupe is now 19-for-20 on his attempts in camp, with the one miss coming in the rain. It kind of goes without saying, but 95% kickers don't lose their jobs.