With everything going on right now, anything familiar seems comforting. Saints camp today felt like football and that was a welcomed feeling. The Saints conducted their most up tempo practice today on Tom Benson Way. Here are my observations:
Mike Thomas continues to be the most reliable place to go with the football. After a drive that ended with an interception by Patrick Robinson deep in the defense’s territory, Drew Brees and the first offense came back and marched down the field on Thomas’ back. A 30-yard gain and a couple more grabs gave Thomas about 50 yards on the 70-yard drive and he capped it with a TD grab. Some things will never change.
The defense started strong, but the middle of the practice was not pretty for them. 4 straight possessions ended in TD’s for the offense. It started with Thomas, but it rolled on for a while as the passing game seemed to have found it’s footing.
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We saw the defense respond in a big way as they came up with an INT on a tipped ball by D.J. Swearinger. The defense ended the next period with a pick as well, rounding out their total at 3 during the scrimmage… winning football.
The pass rush is dominant, but it isn’t necessarily seeing the best the Saints have to offer. The Saints had 3 starters out on the offensive line and rotated extensively as well. You need to create depth, and this group has it, but you could see the lack of continuity as games again ravaged the front.
Carl Granderson had a pair of sacks, Sheldon Rankins again looked effective with a sack and a big short yardage stop near the goal line. Cam Jordan looked like Cam Jordan again, and he was dominant against the reserves. I think the Saints front can be very good this year, and are deeper than last year even when they routinely rotated 7-8 rushers.
Bennie Fowler continues his solid camp with several grabs. I know the Saints will appreciate the veteran’s football IQ and ability to contribute immediately. There are always the questions of upside and those will persist here as well, but Fowler certainly hasn’t hurt himself in camp. Young players had a few grabs as well with Lil’ Jordan Humprey making a couple of big catch and runs.
I think the linebacking core is still up in the air. There is a ton of rotation at the position and there are certainly multiple options. First-year coach Mike Hodges is fun to watch… we would have considered him a runner. He joins Ryan Neilson as a common participant in post play jubilation.
Today was the toughest practice we’ve seen, and I think the guys hung in well. It was hot and humid and the Saints ran substantially more plays than we’ve seen them run in a practice. It was good to see the guys fight through that. Early season conditioning is unquestionably going to be a factor for many teams. Coach Payton appreciates the importance of tough practices and we got to see one today.
The Saints head to the Superdome tomorrow for what I would assume will be more of a situational practice. I wouldn’t expect them to hit two days in a row like they did (today featured live tackling). I would expect to see more situations and learning as the staff scrambles to get a team ready for the myriad of complex situations they’ll find themselves in this season. Deuce will have all the info from that practice coming your way, so make sure to check back on all the WWL Radio platforms to get his immediate reaction.
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