Earlier in camp, Saints head coach Dennis Allen had a not-so-subtle message for second-year WR A.T. Perry: It's time to show something.
That's not an exact quote, but it's a more-than-fair summary of the messaging from the head coach to a WR that had gotten off to a bit of a slow start for the second consecutive training camp.
Much like a year ago, we're starting to see things click for the former 6th round pick heading into the first preseason game, and that was particularly evident on Wednesday.
Perry caught a pass from each of Derek Carr, Jake Haener and Spencer Rattler in 7-on-7s, but he didn't stop there. Perry hooked up with Haener again during the second set of 11s on what looked like a deep over, with the WR adjusting to a touch pass and hauling in the ball for a big gain. Perry hooked up with Haener again during red zone drills for a TD on a post route.
The young WR is competing for a role with a handful of players, including veteran Cedrick Wilson. The former Cowboys and Dolphins receiver has been a bit under the radar to this point, but he's been consistent and make key plays at regular intervals. Wilson hooked up with Carr for a big gain down the right sideline in a third down scenario, and that's been the case multiple times already and from multiple different passers. No. 11 hooked up with Carr again during red zone work with a completion that took the ball down to the goal line and set up a Taysom Hill TD run on the next snap.
I had both Wilson and Perry on my initial roster projection this week, and days like today continue to confirm those feelings. We'll see if they can solidify that idea in the preseason opener and beyond.
TAKING ATTENDANCE
Both Jake Haener and Alvin Kamara got back on the field after planned absences on Monday, and that's a good thing. The only problem is that the list of players out nursing injuries continues to be extensive.
Here's who we didn't see participating in Wednesday's practice:
- DB Ugo Amadi (x)
- WR Equanimeous St. Brown (groin)
- WR Bub Means (shin)
- LB Pete Werner (shoulder)
- WR Rashid Shaheed (hamstring)
- CB Marshon Lattimore (hip)
- RB Kendre Miller (hamstring)
- CB Paulson Adebo (groin)
- LB Jaylon Ford
- LB Demario Davis (hamstring)
- LG Nick Saldiveri (calf)
- OL Shane Lemieux (ankle)
- DL Trajan Jeffcoat (elbow)
Another injury situation to watch heading into the first preseason game will be for WR and early camp standout Mason Tipton, who left during individual drills today with what head coach Dennis Allen described as a hamstring injury. We also saw LB Isaiah Stalbird go down with an injury during special teams work but he finished out the practice.
The good news for the Saints is we are seeing several injured players on a daily basis. We've seen Marshon Lattimore out watching practice from the sideline a few times, and we also saw Demario Davis and Jaylan Ford standing at the back of the end zone and flanking LBs coach Michael Hodges during red zone work.
Equanimeous St. Brown was also spotted working next to Juwan Johnson off to the side with trainers.
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PENNING'S DEVELOPMENT
There's still a long way to go for the former first round pick as he makes the transition to right tackle. At least for now that process seems to be headed in the right direction.
Penning isn't winning every rep, and that simply can't be the standard, but he's been battling well the last few days. He held up well today matched up against Cam Jordan several times to keep his quarterback clean. His recovery looks to be much better than it was even earlier this camp, on one rep getting an initial punch before Jordan was able to disengage and win around the edge. That's the type of thing that happens, but it can't be the end of the rep. This time Penning was able to reset his feet, cut off the angle and anchor before the rush could get to the QB.
He also seems to be getting into his pass pro sets much faster with a quick initial kick step. That's an area he's struggled with in the past, particularly against speed rushers.
All told, you've been hearing less about Penning over the past week or so because he's been making strides in the right direction. He's not there yet, but I feel a lot better about the situation than I did a few weeks back.
KICKING COMPETITION
This has basically become a daily segment because it's a competition that continues to be interesting. Today, for the first time in camp, we saw Blake Grupe and Charlie Smyth each get kicking reps on the same day, and both performed well.
On what seemed to be the windiest day of camp, Grupe hit 5-of-6 kicks, with his miss coming from 42 and his longest make from 52. Smyth hit 6-of-7 with his miss coming from 44 and his longest make from 54.
In total both kickers have missed eight times, though Smyth has done that on 11 fewer attempts. Thus far Grupe is 47-55, while Smyth is 36-44.
The interesting thing for Grupe is that the shakiness has come later on. His first four misses were all from 55 yards or longer. His next four misses have all been from inside 50, and he's hit all the 50-plus kicks he's attempted, including a 61-yarder on Monday.
I still think in order for Smyth to win this competition he'd have to be outperforming Grupe significantly, and I just don't know if we've seen that. Regardless, it's been a fun battle to watch and even if Grupe wins I expect we'll be having the same conversation next offseason.
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LET'S GET NOISY
Every year the Saints seem to try to add at least one new wrinkle into the mix, and that was the case today with crowd noise blaring as they went through team drills. We've seen them employ this earlier in the offseason, but they waited until Day 12 to break it out in camp.
It's obviously impossible to replicate a raucous stadium atmosphere, but it does force the offense and defense to communicate in more adverse conditions. For the most part things seemed to go well, though I did see Cesar Ruiz seem to jump early at least once, and one snap appeared to deflect off a player who was coming through in motion.
LAGNIAPPE
A difficult element to balance in the backup QB competition is trying to give context to reps with the 2s against reps with the 3s. That's mainly because of the protection. The second unit is one featuring players we could expect to see on the roster. The third unit is often struggling, in part because the depth of the pass rush is much, much better. We're seeing 1st or 2nd round picks going up against UDFAs. This has been true for both Rattler and Haener, and the rookie dealt with it today. The positive part is that I think he's navigated that pressure well and is willing to use his legs when nothing is open rather than forcing the ball into traffic. He went 1-for-3 passing on the day in 11s, with the lone completion a nice ball to Dallin Holker for a touchdown in red zone work. ... Kickoffs will obviously be interesting to watch on Saturday, in part because I'm not sure the Saints have things completely dialed in yet. I doubt we'll see Rashid Shaheed out there, so it'll be some combination of maybe Mason Tipton, Jordan Mims, Kool-Aid McKinstry, heck, maybe even Jamaal Williams. One issue is the Saints are trying to get creative and that's led to the ball hitting the ground at a way higher rate than it should be. Hopefully they can get that dialed in. ... Former NBA coach Avery Johnson was at the Saints practice today and he was expected to speak to the team. He's a motivational speaker by trade, so it certainly couldn't hurt.