OH, 80 degrees and virtually no humidity? The New Orleans Saints were thrilled as they experienced their first of two practices in L.A. after three weeks plus of a sweltering New Orleans summer.
The irony of it all: The Chargers were clearly feeling the heat, with Cam Jordan relaying that he was told this was one of their hotter practices.
Either way it was a good day of work for both the offense and defense, though this writeup will be primarily focused on offense. One technical challenge of these practices is that it is almost like two practices. The Saints offense vs the Chargers defense and the Chargers offense vs the Saints defense. The groups work on parallel fields, and you have to choose your focus. Today I watched the Saints offense dominate in points before bogging down a bit in full team drills, tomorrow will be the defense.
For a fuller breakdown on the defense, check out the video atop this page with Deuce McAllister and Mike Hoss. Malcolm Roach was one of the standout performers, with Nephi Sewell also chipping in a handful of impact plays, per reports.
TAKING ATTENDANCE
It's always fun to watch players compete against another team in this setting, but the biggest takeaway from Thursday came in the form of people on the field, albeit sparingly.
There were a handful of players seen for the first time in a while, including Andrus Peat and Demario Davis, both of whom were in pads and got in limited work before shifting over to a side field to work with trainers. WR Rashid Shaheed was also on hand, but did not participate much as he continues to recover from a groin injury. TE Lucas Krull was also back after missing about a week with a tailbone injury.
The biggest surprise was probably Kendre Miller, who suffered a knee injury in Sunday's preseason game against the Chiefs that was expected to keep him out for a few weeks, at minimum. He was wearing a knee brace, but took part in individual drills and didn't show any clear signs of issue from that knee.
The following players were not seen in any capacity:
- TE Taysom Hill (oblique)
- WR Tre'Quan Smith (groin)
- OT Landon Young (knee)
- TE Jesse James (groin)
- WR Lynn Bowden (unknown)
OLAVE KEEPS SHINING
There are few things more clear throughout this camp than Chris Olave's confidence. The second-year pro just keeps making plays, and that was particularly the case during 1-on-1 reps when matched up against Asante Samuel Jr. He caught three of the four passes thrown his way, one of which was a bomb downfield as he got Samuel leaning the wrong way and found himself running alone. The only incompletion was flagged as defensive pass interference by the refs on hand.
Olave caught another ball from Derek Carr in 7-on-7s, then executed an interesting looking tunnel screen concept where he worked back toward the QB from a wide split before skirting upfield. He wasn't a major factor in the final few sets of team drills as the offense worked mostly on the quick passing game over the middle of the field, peppering the tight ends and Michael Thomas.
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PENNING HOLDS UP
I don't think it was a banner day for the OL as a whole. There was more pressure on the QBs than you'd like to see, and I think that was the main culprit in was slowed down the first-team offense. On all but one of the reps I was watching Penning, though, he appeared to hold up well. The Chargers have a bit if an amorphous front, making the edge rushers difficult to read at times. In several instances the pressure would be shown off the edge, then drop out leaving Penning searching for someone to block, A lot of the pressure seemed to come from the interior.
One thing worth noting: The offense didn't do any scouting of the Chargers before today's practice. They just went out and played to see what would happen. With that factor in play, it's a bit easier to justify some of the protection breakdowns.
KAWAAN & A.T. HAD NICE DAYS
A.T. Perry continues to take steps forward, and he found himself open and with the ball early and often. He still puts a few more balls on the ground than I'd like to see in practice settings, and I wonder if sometimes he loses concentration (which would explain why his hands were rock-steady in his only game setting). Either way, I like what I'm seeing from him.
My practice ball (is that a thing?) goes to Kawaan Baker. I wrote his name down constantly during this practice, and Jameis Winston found him repeatedly in clutch moments as drives worked their way downfield. I don't know what his chances are to make this roster, but this day will help. I'll also shout out Bryan Edwards, who didn't exactly shine in the first few weeks of camp but has since put together multiple solid days.
MT STACKS
I'm a big fan of the way the Saints are using stacks to get Michael Thomas open and I expect to see a lot of that once the season rolls around. Today I saw it in combination with both A.T. Perry and Keith Kirkwood, and both times Thomas used the natural pick to create separation for an easy pitch and catch from Carr over the middle. Thomas is already so physical and has such strong hands, give him the added advantage of a moving screen and I'm just not sure how you stop it if the ball is delivered where it's supposed to be.
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GRUPE ON TARGET
One interesting element at the Chargers practice facility is the tiny goalposts. Seriously, there is a mobile set of uprights that I'd guess is about half the width of the standard set. It forces kickers to be all the more precise and Grupe was, making all but two kicks, one of which bounced off the upright and the other just wide. Both would've been good on normal width posts. His ability continues to impress.
NO HAENER REPS
For the second consecutive practices there were no team reps taken by Jake Haener. Instead they went Carr for four reps, followed by two reps for Winston, then four reps for Carr, then another two for Winston. That was at least the case for sets that didn't simulate actual drives. I fully expect the rookie to get the lion's share of snaps in this weekend's game, but what you're seeing is a pretty good indicator that this will indeed be a redshirt season for Jake (and that's OK). You have Winston as a premium backup, and that's the role he'll serve. These valuable reps are going to the QBs that you'll expect to be relying on when the games start.
I HATE CAMP STATS
This is more of an aside than anything else, but I will point to something: I don't post a lot of stats in these columns, and for good reason. I find completion percentages of QBs to be, at best, unhelpful in terms of diagnosing camp performance. At worst they are used by people who weren't there to try to make an argument about who's performing better. It's pretty clear to anyone watching that Carr is testing the boundaries of his receivers and tight ends. He's not checking down as often as he probably would in a game, and the result is sometimes plays that don't work. But as we saw in the preseason opener, the offense is ready to hum. There was one interception thrown today, and it was probably a bad throw (they happen).
I get it, there aren't a ton of statistics to point to after practices. That's just the way it is. But completion percentages without context aren't giving you a ton of information.
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