At one point during team drills in Wednesday's practice, Dennis Allen had to step in and tell his pass rush to stop making contact with the quarterback. That's what the red jersey means, after all.
That should give you a good idea of how the day went, because it was a long session dominated by the pass rush. There were five total sessions of 11-on-11 drills and there was heavy pressure in every one. Whether it was with a blitz, of the edge or up the middle, I counted well into the double-digits of plays that would've either ended in sacks or at the very least forced the QB to evade.
It's something that's been hard to ignore, but to this point we can look to the pass rush and say that unit has a chance to be very, very good. The Saints offense is continuing to install, and they were down two of their first-teamers with Erik McCoy getting a day off and a rotating trio at left guard.
We'll have to see how things develop, but to this point Chase Young has looked unblockable at times as he's ramped up to a full workload. To this point he's lined up exclusively on the left side, and Taliese Fuaga has had his hands full. Let's call it a learning experience for the rookie who has had a strong opening to his camp.
It's also tough to get a good read on the QBs when the action gets blown up like it has been.
The Saints are off on Thursday, and hopefully the offense can come back with a few more answers after a pair of days unquestionably won by the defense.
TAKING ATTENDANCE
The best news of the day was that Chris Olave got back into the action and seemed to be a full participant after walking off with an injury on Tuesday. What you can say about him early in his career is that while he's dealt with his share of injuries, he's battled and rarely missed much time. The Saints really need him to be the engine of this passing game, so keeping him in the action is important.
Here are the players who didn't participate in Wednesday's action:
- WR Cedrick Wilson (groin)
- WR Bub Means (shin)
- WR Equanimeous St. Brown (hamstring)
- CB Marshon Lattimore (hip flexor)
- RB Kendre Miller (hamstring)
- LG Nick Saldiveri (calf)
- DL Trajan Jeffcoat (elbow)
- DT Bryan Bresee (foot)
Another player to watch is LB Demario Davis who went off with a hamstring injury and didn't participate in team drills. FB Zander Horvath also returned after missing the past two days with a personal issue.
One piece of good news is that Juwan Johnson, who we've seen working off to the side regularly, has started running in his rehab. I wouldn't call it full speed running, but that's a significant development for a player working back from foot surgery.
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ROTATING GUARDS
Erik McCoy got a day off today, which is a significant shift for him based on his personal philosophy. A year ago when asked why he didn't take veteran rest days he said that if QB1 was on the field, he wanted to be on the field. That wasn't the case today, with Lucas Patrick shifting to center for all the first-team reps.
Dennis Allen said that it does represent something of a philosophy change for McCoy, who has dealt with some soft tissue injuries over the past two seasons. The team is going to manage his reps more this time around.
With Patrick moving from guard to center, that meant there was an opening next to him, and the Saints got looks at several players. The rotation included UDFA Kyle Hergel, Landon Young and Oli Udoh, the latter two of whom have spent the majority of time at guard. It's a strong look for Hergel to he in that rotation, and it showcases the versatility for Young who has been playing both tackle spots regularly with the 2s.
One surprise is that Shane Lemieux didn't get any run, which is probably a bad sign for him.
It's good to get a look at those players, but I'd say the shuffle certainly didn't help the action on a day where the defensive line looked so dominant. It's a big part of why I'm choosing not to overreact to that part of the equation quite yet.
ALONTAE'S STRONG DAY
I've mentioned previously that I felt like Alontae Taylor had gotten off to a slow start relative to expectations, but he flipped that today. That was particularly true in a spirited set of 1-on-1s where he matched up with Chris Olave four times and forced three incompletions on the first three reps.
Twice he was able to get his hand on the ball to swat it away. There was some jawing back and forth, with Olave yelling that he was "holding like a b****" and telling the defense they shouldn't clap for it. There was contact, for sure, but a defensive-minded person would call it handfighting.
Those 1-on-1 reps are heavily tilted to the WR side to begin with, so I'm usually inclined to allow an extra bit of physicality in terms of the rep. It's not a scenario you'll ever see in a game, so I'm not calling penalties either. Stay plastered on Olave, you get credit.
I thought Taylor also had a strong day in team. Now he needs to be consistent going forward.
DEVELOPMENTAL TIME
It was a bit of a weird moment at the end of practice, with one final set of team drills with the 1s before the group broke out for a set of sprints. It appeared practice was over, and I personally headed over to the press conference podium.
It wasn't over, though, with the third-teamers getting on the field for another set of drills. Dennis Allen said that was an instance of developmental time for the lesser-used players. Today's session was the longest thus far at 2.5 hours, so it makes sense to use that time in an unusual fashion.
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LAGNIAPPE
There were at least three scuffles in today's action, and that marks the third consecutive day (all in pads) that we can say that. It's going to start grating on the coaches' nerves soon, if it hasn't already. ... When players come in with the special teams ace label, you have to pay attention because there's always a group of those players who make the roster. That was the case for WR Stanley Morgan and he's been showing why. On one rep on Wednesday he straight-up bullied Lawrence Johnson as a jammer. Johnson was the gunner and never got within 30 yards of the punt returner. It's reps like that that will help you understand why he lands on the 53-man roster in a few weeks. ... Blake Grupe had another perfect day on his five kicks, the longest of which came from 52. He's now 26-28 during this training camp session, with his two misses coming from 55. ... I feel like I say this every day, but Jordan Mims just fits what this offense wants to do. He showed that on another few reps today. ... Payton Turner has been working his way into depth reps, and he's been dominating them. That should be the case when a first-round pick lines up over the backup to the backup, but I'm still happy to see it. The question for him has always been more about depth than talent. ... This roster will be a tough one to make at linebacker this season, but both D'Marco Jackson and Anfernee Orji took advantage of some extra opportunities today. They had several quality run fits and also found their way into the backfield to disrupt several plays.