The New Orleans Saints have now wrapped up their 10 installation practices and their offense remains more a matter of projection than one of certainty. It was another rough day for the offense as quarterback Tyler Shough and the first team continue to search for rhythm, particularly in situational drills.
Defense Wins Again
The defense again ran the day throughout practice with a trio of interceptions by cornerbacks Martin Emerson Jr. and Quincy Riley as well as edge rusher Carl Granderson. The team’s pass rush also remained a thorn in the offense’s side with a number of pressures and players in position for sacks.
The tricky balance of training camp remains: is the offense struggling? Or is the defense simply just that good? Thursday’s joint practice with the Jacksonville Jaguars may be the first indication of which side of the conversation is true.
Battered Defensive Line
The Saints’ defensive line has taken on quite a few injuries this offseason and the latest may impact the regular season availability of one of the team’s top names: edge rusher Cameron Jordan.
Since camp began, the Saints have suffered the following injuries along the defensive line:
- DL Bryan Bresee out for the year (ACL)
- Jordan’s could miss regular season time (hamstring)
- DL John Ridgeway III has missed multiple practices (back)
- Rookie Christen Miller missed multiple practices (toe)
- DL Davon Godchaux left Tuesday’s practice early (ankle)
- Two rookie undrafted players were waived while managing injuries
Of those players, only Miller has been able to make it back to the field (though Godchaux only left in the most recent practice). The team has a deep stable of players to fall back on at both the interior defensive line and edge rusher positions, but it feels like that depth is starting to reach a critical threshold.
Rookies Return
For all of the injury concerns there may be, two rookies made their way back to the field on Tuesday with Miller and offensive lineman Jeremiah Wright getting back in team action. Both spent a wealth of time with the second team units.
Kicker Competition gets Serious
Kickers Charlie Smyth and Tanner Brown haven’t had much separation in their competition so far, per Moore. But Tuesday’s practice may have had a big impact.
It was Brown’s day in the rotation to kick, but instead of his seeing all five of the scripted kicking attempts, the two boots battled in an alternating rotation. The field goal unit lined up at extra point distance and then Brown kicked first and then Smyth kicked second. The unit then moved to its next distance before the same rotation of kickers.
All told, 10 scripted kicks were attempted. A pair each from extra point distance, 39 yards, 44 yards, 47 yards and 56 yards out. Brown was a perfect 5/5 while Smyth missed one of his five attempts from 56, going 4/5 in the alternating competition.
The Saints dialed up the pressure here to a noticeable extent. Not only did the two kickers alternate from multiple distances, the entire team looked on as they did. Usually, while field goals are being attempted on one of the outdoor fields, the other field is generally occupied with additional work.
Not this time.
All eyes were on the kickers as they went through their attempts, including top team evaluators like Senior Personnel Advisor Randy Mueller.
The tone was noticeably different as the kicking competition heads into its next phase with live games beginning in a matter of days.
During the team’s unscripted work later in practice, Brown made another pair of kicks, one from 22 yards and another extra point while Smyth made one from 39 yards. That puts their days at 7/7 for Brown and 5/6 for Smyth.
Running Totals
Smyth: 27/35 with misses from 39 (x2), 44, 45, 47, 50, 51 and 56.
Brown: 28/32 with misses from extra point distance, 39, 45 and 54.
Attendance
- Not seen: RB Kendre Miller (back), LB Chris Rumph III (ankle), OL Dillon Radunz (knee) EDGE Cameron Jordan (hamstring), DT John Ridgeway III
- Sidework: RB Devin Neal (hamstring)
- Observing: WR Mason Tipton (leg), OL Jeremiah Wright (shoulder)
Cornerback Rejzohn Wright returned to practice but left early with a groin injury. Defensive tackle Davon Godchaux left early with an ankle injury.
Team Drills
NOTE: Now that the team is in preparations for upcoming games, our team drill breakdowns will summarize the action drills rather than provide play-by-play details. Football is almost here.
The Saints did four rounds of team drills on Tuesday including situational work like two-minute end of game drills and red zone. They also finished the day with a stylized approach to redzone competition called Redzone Lockout.
Shough Summary
During the first three drills, Shough went 9/13 while throwing a touchdown to tight end Juwan Johnson. The touchdown was delivered on a fourth down strike during two-minute drills which would have given the team a lead with less than 10 seconds remaining. It was one of Shough’s best throws of camp.
He completed passes to a variety of receivers including Chris Olave, Jordyn Tyson and tight end Noah Fant, with whom he connected with early on a nice throw.
Running backs Travis Eteinne Jr., Alvin Kamara and Audric Estime all saw rushing opportunities.
Rattler Summary
Quarterback Spencer Rattler went 3/9 with an interception before the Redzone Lockdown competition, possibly 4/10 depending on how one early whistle impacted charting. He was mostly the victim of an outstanding day by veteran cornerback Martin Emerson Jr. who was playing very well throughout the day.
Emerson had multiple pass breakups and had the interception as the clock ticked down on the second team’s two-minute drill.
Rattler has had a very impressive and strong camp thus far, and this was easily his toughest day.
Wilson Summary
Quarterback Zach Wilson went 6/12 through the same drills with his two-minute drive ending on a fourth down passing attempt to rookie wideout Bryce Lance that was broken up by cornerback Dalys Beanum.
Beanum has been keen on breaking up passes all camp by shooting his hand through those of the receiver as they reach up to reel in a pass. The closing breakup in third-team two-minute drills was another example.
Redzone Lockdown
The Redzone Lockdown drill is how the Saints closed out practice. The ball starts in the redzone with the offensive possession starting on 1st-and-10 and allows for as many possessions as necessary to reach 18 points. The first unit to do so wins.
The scoring system is as follows:
- Touchdown: Offense – 7 points, Defense – 0 points
- Field Goal: Offense – 3 points, Defense – 4 points
- Takeaway/Empty Possession: Offense – 0 points, Defense – 7 points
Here is the general info for each drive:
- First Team: Shough goes 2/3 and Etienne carries twice leading to a 22-yard field goal attempt by Brown. The attempt is good.
- Score: Defense 4, Offense 3
- Second Team: Rattler goes 1/2 with a run leading to a 39-yard field goal attempt by Smyth. The attempt is good.
- Score: Defense 8, Offense 6
- First Team: Shough goes 0/4 with an interception by EDGE Carl Granderson. Granderson almost had a pick on the first passing attempt of this drive but dropped it. He would redeem himself after a defensive penalty on third down gave the offense new life.
- Score: Defense 15, Offense 6
- Second/Third Team: Wilson goes 3/4 with a touchdown pass to rookie WR Barion Brown. RB Ty Chandler also had a pair of carries.
- Score: Defense 15, Offense 13
- First Team: Shough went 1/4 with an interception by CB Quincy Riley, the dagger for the defense.
- Final Score: Defense 22, Offense 13
Overall, another strong performance for the defense.
Lagniappe
- Kick/punt returners: Brown, WRs Trey Palmer and Jalen Cropper and CB Jayden Price.
- DT Khristian Boyd saw a lot of work, along with Miller in his return, with injuries piling up on the interior defensive line.
- LB Pete Werner participated in individual drills after being sidelined in the previous practice with a groin injury.
