The New Orleans Saints didn't waste their final day in California, shipping out to Carson for a high-energy practice against the L.A. Rams.
It was a divide-and-conquer day from a coverage perspective, with the Saints offense facing the Rams defense on one field, and vice versa on the parallel field. I watched the offense while Bobby Hebert and Mike Hoss scoped out the defense. Deuce McAllister found his way into the middle of the fields for a vantage point of both ends. By all accounts it was the Saints defense that ruled the day.
"I was very pleased with the defense. ... Demario Davis was flying all around. Not only you look at Chase Young, three sacks, but he had three PBUs, pass breakups," Hebert said. "Household names that you know and [Julian] Blackmon. I’m starting to think Blackmon, how the hell was he on the street? When Honey Badger retired we just got him. He looks like the best safety on both fields.”
The day continued a run of impressive performances for Blackmon, who had finished off each of the prior two practices in Irvine with interceptions.
On the whole it was another busy day of work with the Saints offense running 86 plays, about 60% of which featured the 1s. That workload doesn't bode well for a large number of starters to play in the Week 2 preseason tilt against the Jaguars at the Caesars Superdome, but it'll be another big opportunity in the quarterback competition between Tyler Shough and Spencer Rattler (more on their days below). Saints coaches were expected to meet Thursday evening to come up with an action plan for the next few days before the team heads home on Friday.
TAKING ATTENDANCE
No real changes for the Saints as far as attendance goes, but there were a pair of roster moves with the Saints signing edge Jeremiah Martin and waiving QB Hunter Dekkers for the second time in as many weeks. It feels likely that Dekkers will be back with the team at some point, that's just the life as a fourth string QB.
Here are the players I didn't see practicing on Thursday:
- CB Alontae Taylor (groin)
- RB Devin Neal (hamstring)
- S J.T. Gray (hamstring)
- Edge Jasheen Davis
- OT Josiah Ezirim (excused)
We did see Gray working off to the side with trainers during this session, something that hasn't been the case in the previous few days. That's a good sign that he's nearing a return. I haven't spotted Taylor or Penning since their injuries, though Taylor was on the sidelines for the preseason opener.
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QB WATCH
I thought it was another solid day for both Rattler and Shough, though the Rams pass rush was a nuisance and accounted for three sacks while applying pressure often throughout the day. Rattler started with the first team and completed his first 7 passes before a throwaway spurred by pressure.
We did see some more downfield passing in this practice, something I've been calling for recently. There's a level of playing it safe I want to see during the season, but this is the time to be pressing boundaries and testing limits. Rattler's first deep ball targeting Shaheed on a deep post was knocked away by the coverage, but he later found Shaheed for a 50-yard TD up the left sideline as he got behind the coverage. The ball was dropped in the bucket and Shaheed never had to break stride. Being able to effectively use Shaheed's speed will be an important element for this offense.
Rattler found Juwan Johnson early and often, which is a good sign. I think an underrated element in the QB battle will be whichever player better utilizes him in the offense, because I expect him to be a focal point. Juwan had six catches on the day, five of which came from Rattler.
Shough got off to a slow start but bounced back strong in the second set of drills, completing all four of his passes, one being a 60-yard catch-and-run TD to Mason Tipton on a crossing route. The ball was delivered on the money and Tipton was able to flash his elite speed, outrunning angles to the end zone. Sometimes you wonder in those instances whether a long run would've happened in a real game, but this was as clean as it gets. Again, utilizing speed will be important for this offense.
Both QBs had a rough go in red zone work, but Shough was able to find Cedrick Wilson on a TD over the middle of the field with the ball snapped from the 10-yard line.
The rookie also impressed to end the day, taking on the only situational drive, which he got at his own 35 yard line, trailing 23-21 with 1:20 to go. It started off ugly, with Shough attempting to throw a ball away to no one in particular. The ball actually bounced off the side of Kelvin Banks' helmet and he was flagged for grounding. That meant he faced a 2nd and 20, which he quickly erased on a deep sideline ball to Brandin Cooks to set the offense up at the 50 with about 30 seconds to go. The rest of the drive went:
- Shough to Cooks, +4 (TO)
- Shough to Shaheed over the middle, +11
- Spike at 35 with 15 seconds left
- Shough to Juwan Johnson on a quick out, +10 ... OB with 11 seconds left
- Shough throwaway to kill clock at 25 yard line
The drive would've set up a game-winning 43-yard field goal attempt with the clock expiring. That's a win.
We'll have to wait and see who starts the Week 2 preseason game, but this QB competition is still too close to call.
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MISCUES
A consistent issue throughout camp continues to be there, and that's penalties. The refs on hand threw their flags often, and only one went against the Rams (and that's not a criticism). It was the Saints making a comedy of errors on offense and in a variety of ways. We saw illegal formations, false starts, intentional grounding, even a wide snap that Spencer Rattler was able to recover but would've meant a big loss.
The Saints are relying on young players and young players make mistakes, but man, when you're playing with the narrow margins that the Saints have this year, you can't afford to give away free yards. Gotta clean it up.
NO RUN
I'm starting to get concerned about the Saints rushing attack, and it's really not about the running backs. I'm just not seeing the type of physicality up front from the OL that they need to have, and the Rams stout front repeatedly stuffed everything the Saints attempted between the tackles. One of the Saints' most effective runs of the day was punched out of Alvin Kamara's hands for a fumble after a 5-yard gain.
We did see some effective runs to the edges of the field. We've also seen the Saints incorporate some speed options with Shough, which is a neat little wrinkle that could put defenses in a bind if they don't respect the QB's running ability. Still, this feels like it'll be a long season if you're asking either QB to drop back 30 times a game because there's nothing to be had on the ground.
WRATH OF RATH
If you didn't know any better watching Ted Rath on the sideline you'd assume he was just a high-energy position coach. He was prowling the sidelines hyping players up after big plays. He's the pro performance director. Cool to see him out there and involved, because that's an important role on this team. Players need to know he's invested in their success, and he very clearly is.