Trevor Penning was honest and open when he discussed his move out of the starting left tackle role for the Saints after five games. It was anything but easy.
That said, he understands why it happened and his approach will be to work and stay ready. As was the case in Week 6 against the Texans, he'll still have to be ready to go out there at a moment's notice.
“I’m going to practice, trying to work on those little things and, you know, those little bitty details really matter and that’s what I’m working to improve on," Penning said. "I’m gonna take it day by day, week by week and I just want to see myself improve and hopefully get back to starting.”
The explanation for the decision has been relatively simple, one that began with James Hurst in that starting role and shifted to Andrus Peat in Week 7 with Hurst down with an ankle injury. The coaching staff identified areas that Penning was struggling, and deemed it the best course to allow him to step back and work on those issues independent of any gameplan work.
"When you have a young player and they have some struggles, what you don’t want is for them to continue to struggle and lose that confidence," Dennis Allen said. "And so I think it’s an opportunity for him to … see the game from a different perspective and get a chance to get into practice and work to improve."
Thus far the work and improvement has been focused on left tackle, where Penning still prepares as if he'll be the starter. There's been no talk of any position change, at least externally, and Penning's athletic profile is more geared toward the tackle position. His biggest struggles were in pass protection to begin the season, with 10 pressures and 3 sacks allowed through the first two games. He evened out his performance there -- with some gameplan help from chipping back and tight ends -- but with that came unexpected struggles in run-blocking.
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That area of the game is one that Penning was supposed to be ahead of the curve, coming out of Northern Iowa with the reputation of being a mauler. For Penning the issue has been mostly technique, something that was always known to be the case coming out of a small school. There also seems to have been something of a crisis of confidence, and that's what Penning has been working on remedying in the background as he works to "control what he can control," as the cliche goes.
"I guess some of it is thinking too much sometimes and if you think too much you’re going to be slower on the field and some of thing that I need to improve on is repetition, getting everything, making it just kind of second-nature, basically," Penning said. "Just being able to go out there, identify defense, know what I’m doing, how I’m blocking it and just go instead of thinking what’s going on here. That’s things that come with practice, just improving.”
For now Penning's role will be as the backup to Peat, who performed well in his first start at left tackle since 2018. The Saints will have a decision to make when Hurst is ready to return from an ankle injury he's been battling since before the win over the Patriots in Ween 5. Veteran Max Garcia stepped in at guard in Week 6 and has been one of the more consistent performers on the shuffled OL. Veteran Cam Erving was also called up from the practice squad for Week 7 and got the start at RT with Ryan Ramczyk out with a concussion. Ramczyk appears to be progressing well and should have a good chance to return in Week 8.
Where Penning can expect to get on the field is in jumbo sets, a position he's familiar with, having served in that role when he returned from injury in the latter half of the 2022 season and with Hurst starting at LT. That should be an opportunity to work on run blocking technique in live action. He saw six snaps in those packages in Week 7. He was in on the Taysom Hill touchdown early in the 4th quarter and affected three rushers.
"It’s good in a way, taking a step back and kind of getting fresh air and just being able to work on my game, not worrying about what the Colts are doing, what the Texans are doing," Penning said. "Just really work on what I need to improve on. So that’s kind of how I take it and just working on making myself a better play, and that way when my name is called, I’ll be ready to go.”