Normally these notes focus on the players who were out on the field, but that's not the case today. That's because the news broke shortly after practice that backup guard Dillon Radunz suffered a ton ACL during Saturday's practice. He's done for the year.
It's the second torn ACL for the Saints this camp along with DT Bryan Bresee, and it will again force the Saints to change up their rotations significantly. The Saints brought in Radunz last season after four years with the Titans. He worked in a backup role to begin the year, but ended up starting 10 games due to injuries.
He was set to fill that same role again this year behind starters David Edwards and Cesar Ruiz, and he was set to get first-team reps in the same practice that he suffered the injury, while Ruiz banked time at second-team center.
Coverage brought to you by Trane: It's Hard To Stop A TraneTrane: It's Hard To Stop A TraneRuiz was initially expected to see center reps again on Sunday, but he was back at his normal right guard spot instead. Will Sherman, who took over the first-team reps on Saturday, was back working at second team center, with Easton Kilty at the LG spot.
The good news is that the Saints still have their first-team OL intact. The bad news is that the 6th, 7th and even 8th linemen almost always find their ways onto the field at some point. We'll have to wait and see whether the injury turns up the heat on Jeremiah Wright's development. The 4th round rookie out of Auburn has looked stout in 1-on-1s and has been taking on depth work in team drills.
“I’ve enjoyed Jeremiah. He’s done a really nice job," head coach Kellen Moore said earlier in camp. "He’s a physical, physical football player. He’s strong. He’s got size. He’s just got to continue to grow and as you go through this installation process.”
Wright has missed the last few days due to a shoulder issue. If the Saints deem Wright ready, perhaps he steps into a bigger role. But it's more likely they get aggressive in the trade market as we get down toward the end of camp and roster cuts come into focus. That's what happened last year when they added Luke Fortner and Asim Richards by trade, and claimed Xavier Truss on waivers.
TAKING ATTENDANCE
The most welcome bit of news was that safety Julian Blackmon was back in action and participating fully a day after leaving early with a trainer to address a knee issue. RB Alvin Kamara and LS Zach Wood were also back in the action after spending Saturday up in Canton for Drew Brees' enshrinement in the pro football Hall of Fame.
Here's who I didn't see practicing at all on Sunday:
- RB Kendre Miller (back)
- RB Devin Neal (hamstring)
- WR Bub Means (personal)
- CB Rejzohn Wright
- DT Christen Miller (toe)
- OL Jeremiah Wright (shoulder)
- LB Chris Rumph (ankle)
- DE Cam Jordan (hamstring)
The only new injury on that list above belongs to Cam Jordan, who apparently suffered the injury during Thursday's practice. Moore said doctors were still "gathering information," which sounds somewhat ominous. Jordan was also up in Canton for Brees' enshrinement, so it's possible there's just been limited time to assess the injury. Either way it's something to watch because Jordan is as much of an ironman as you'll find in the NFL and RARELY misses time. If he's not practicing for an extended period of time, it's almost certainly because the doctors tell him he can't.
In the meantime, it'll be on Tyree Wilson, Anfernee Jennings and others to take advantage of some extra reps and show why they should make the 53 out of camp.
We're still waiting to see RBs Devin Neal and Kendre Miller get back in the action, but Neal appears to be getting close. He could be seen working off to the side with trainers, along with Rejzohn Wright, during the practice session.
Two new injuries to monitor will be for DT John Ridgeway (back) and LB Pete Werner (groin). Both players left practice early. Danny Stutsman and Jaylan Ford saw increased reps in Werner's absence.
BRYCE BOMB
There's a good bit of development left ahead, but it's very easy to see what drew the Saints to Bryce Lance in this year's draft. You just don't find many players standing 6'3 and able to move with 4.3 speed. They just don't exist. If Lance went to Ohio State instead of North Dakota State, that skillset goes in the first round.
But Lance did play his college ball at the FCS level and he's certainly raw in some areas. He said that himself when I spoke with him after practice, noting that the biggest area of growth he's targeting is his route-running. That'll come with time and reps, but in Sunday's practice he flashed that long speed on a deep ball for a touchdown from Spencer Rattler.
Lance was matched up with Isaac Yiadom 1-on-1. He didn't create a ton of separation, but he was able to stack the CB in trail coverage and pulled in a perfectly placed ball above his head without breaking stride for what would've been a 50-plus yard TD. It looks simple, but that's a lot harder to do than people might realize, and it's even harder to defend. Yiadom was beat, but he was close enough that if the WR throttled down to make the catch easier or tried to plant and high point the ball he'd have been able to recover and potentially make a play. Instead it was the highlight of the day.
This is a dude who caught 17 touchdown passes in one season of college football. I don't know exactly how much run we'll see from him this year, but I'll be very intrigued if and when he does get out there.
HIGHS AND LOWS
Tyler Shough started hot in Sunday's practice, completing four of his first five throws, with the only incompletion an on-target ball that TE Juwan Johnson was unable to corral on the sideline. It looked like Danny Stutsman made a nice play to break it up. The highlight was an off-schedule play where Tyler Shough broke the pocket and found Chris Olave downfield for a gain of 20 yards. We haven't seen a ton of Shough creating off-schedule, but he was aggressive in that area during this practice.
The Rattler bomb, as noted above, also came in the first set of team drills. It was a slow start for the defense, and at one point the third team got called for a facemask and offsides on back-to-back plays. Anytime you give up a free 20 yards, you can bet that gets brought up in film review.
The first-team defense got the better of the offense in the first set of true situational work, though. This time the situation was 1:30 remaining in the first half with the offense down 3, starting from their own 35. The goal is to get into field goal range, at minimum. That didn't happen. The first snap was an off-target incompletion on an in-cut toward Chris Olave. Kool-Aid McKinstry was in coverage and he's been excellent. It seems the only way complete a pass in his direction is with an absolutely perfect ball.
Shough found Juwan Johnson over the middle of the field for a first down on the next snap. Next was a short completion to Jordyn Tyson, followed by a failed run. The drive ended on the next snap (3rd & 8). Shough attempted to step up against pressure but DE Tyree Wilson was able to use his long arms to knock the ball free for a sack fumble. It was difficult to tell who recovered the ball, but the drive ended, regardless. It was good to see Wilson make a play.
The second team had more success, with Rattler finding completions to Kevin Austin Jr., Audric Estime and Noah Fant to move to the 32 yard line with about 30 seconds left. The next three snaps appeared designed to burn clock, with Rattler dropping back and quickly heaving the ball downfield out of bounds. The clock was at about 6 seconds when Charlie Smyth came on for a 50-yard attempt that missed wide left.
KICKING UPDATE
If there's going to be a turnaround in the kicking competition, it didn't happen on Sunday. It was Charlie Smyth's day. After kicking multiple times with Bon Jovi's Livin' on a Prayer playing in the background, today they switched to AC/DC's Thunderstruck. Thunder didn't strike. He took six attempts in drills, knocking in a PAT and from 39, 45 and 51. He missed from 47 and 56. As noted, he also missed from 50 in the situational drill. I noted this a few times last year, but Smyth seems to struggle in particular with kicks from the left hash. Two of his three misses today were from that alignment.
At this stage neither Smyth or Tanner Brown looks particularly reliable. I think this thing goes down to the wire, but I'm not convinced the Saints kicker for the 2026 season isn't currently on another team's roster. Either way, here's how the competition stacks up after nine practices:
- Tanner Brown: 21-25, 84% (misses: PAT, 39, 45, 54; long of 56; 3-4 from 50-plus)
- Charlie Smyth: 22-29, 76% (misses: 39, 44, 45, 47, 50, 51, 56; long of 54; 3-6 from 50-plus)
LAGNIAPPE
The Zach Wilson to Ronnie Bell connection keeps thriving. In today's practice we saw Ball and Wilson hook up for what would've been a 40-yard touchdown. It looked like it might've been a busted coverage. Mike Reid was the closest to the action. ... Add the Wilson to Treyton Welch connection to that list as well. The TE hauled in three passes with the third team. ... Ryan Wright could end up being a weapon for this team. He blends power with control in a way we haven't seen from a Saints punter in quite a while. Just an observation, but I really do think being more efficient in that area will make life a lot easier on this defense. ... I like what I'm seeing from the Saints in the screen game. We saw both Alvin Kamara and Travis Etienne pick up chunks of yardage in screen situations. It feels like it's been a while since the Saints thrived in that part of the game.
