Saints defensive end Chase Young spoke to the media after Thursday's joint practice with the Jaguars and claimed he picked up six sacks on the day.
It's telling of how dominant a camp he's had to this stage that everyone took him at his word, because based on what we've seen, that's not an unrealistic number. The Cajun Cannon Bobby Hebert, who focused on the defensive side of the ball during practice, would've had that number closer to four, but that doesn't take away from the impact he had in the competitive session.
“I can tell you, Chase Young was in their tackle’s head," Hebert said. "Because after he got those sacks he got him to jump offsides twice because he’s trying to not get beaten off the edge.”
Hear more joint practice takes from the Cajun Cannon Bobby Hebert in the player above, or in the video atop this page.
Coverage brought to you by Trane: It's Hard To Stop A TraneTrane: It's Hard To Stop A TraneIn all Hebert credited the defense with somewhere between 8-10 sacks, and he pointed to interior linemen Nathan Shepherd and Vernon Broughton as two players who regularly disrupted Trevor Lawrence's rhythm early in practice. The Saints set the tone early with pressure, but also from the secondary, with Julian Blackmon stepping in front of one of Lawrence's passes for an interception in the first set of team drills.
On the opposite field the offense got through the day with zeros turnovers.
"It looked like, at times, our defense dominating their offense," Hebert continued. "The Jags didn’t do jack. … It was unbelievable."
Jacksonville did find their footing as the practice went on, in particular finding success during red zone work with multiple touchdowns. Kool-Aid McKinstry had some tough battles with the Jags' impressive WR group.
“[McKinstry] was in awesome position a couple of times and Trevor Lawrence just made unbelievable throws," Hebert said.
In all it was a strong showing on both sides of the ball, and one that should build confidence for this Saints group going forward in Year 2 with starting QB Tyler Shough in Kellen Moore's offense, and a lot of returning players in Brandon Staley's defense. The Saints plan to sit most or all of their starters during the preseason opener between the teams on Saturday, so the next competitive action we'll see for that group will be in a pair of joint practices against the Rams and Cowboys next week in California.
“Our defense, and we need a great defense," Hebert continued. "I think we’re on the cusp of 9 or 10 best defense in the NFL. We need to stay that way as the offense continues to grow, but I wrote that our defense looks very similar against their offense that I do against our offense. … Brandon Staley and the guys, they were ready to compete against Jacksonville and that was very promising.”
Hear more on SportsTalk on weekdays 4-8 p.m. on WWL AM-870; FM-105.3 and the Audacy app, and check out YouTube.com/wwlsports for our latest video content and breakdowns
