OXNARD, Calif. – The New Orleans Saints and Dallas Cowboys held a joint practice that, for a while, represented more of a wrestling match than a football practice. With upwards of 10 fights or scuffles throughout the day, it wasn’t hard to see the physical nature of the team’s Tuesday practice, during which some key injuries set in and a star player continued to make plays.
Fights Didn’t Lead To Lack of Focus
Sure, there were slaps, grapples, punches and even a German suplex, but between all of that, both sides of the ball remained focused and continued the work while navigating the tension. Both head coaches, Saints’ Kellen Moore and Cowboys’ Brian Schottenheimer conferenced throughout practice and erred on the side of pushing through rather than calling the day early.
As tensions simmered down, the quality of work continued to rise and all phases of the Saints’ team had standout moments and will walk away with some opportunities for growth.
Biggest Offensive Win: Chris Olave
Wide receiver Chris Olave caught all eight of his passing targets, all of which came from quarterback Tyler Shough. Two of those completions came with gains of 20 or more yards. Olave also had a touchdown reception on a slant with first-round safety Caleb Downs in coverage.
After that reception, Olave was briefly checked out in the medical tent before quickly retaking the field.
The connection between Shough and Olave continues to grow and was the impetus for a strong day of passing for Shough, who completed 19 of his 22 passing attempts for a pair of touchdowns (he also found tight end Noah Fant for second red zone score) and one interception.
Biggest Offensive Progress: Protection
The offensive line held well in the run game as running backs Kendre Miller and Devin Neal returned to action. They also protected Shough well in the passing game, taking only two sacks throughout the day.
Biggest Offensive Concern: Alvin Kamara Injured
Saints’ running back Alvin Kamara didn’t finish practice. Per Moore, the back left with a knee injury. While getting two running backs back on the field was a positive, losing Kamara for any amount of time would be another shot to the offense, which is already managing some key injuries after the loss of rookie wide receiver Jordyn Tyson for an expected two months.
Biggest Defensive Win: Redzone Defense
This would be the defense’s biggest win of the day as well as the best piece of progress shown. While Cowboys passer Dak Prescott was efficient on the day, 20/25 on non-penalty nullified plays and 7/8 inside the 20, the Saints’ defense mostly kept the door shut in the end zone.
Prescott connected with wide receiver George Pickens for a touchdown that was wiped out due to an ineligible man downfield, but then immediately found receiver Ryan Flournoy for another scoring strike the play after.
But after that, the Cowboys offense did not find the end zone for another touchdown inside striking distance. A massive improvement from the Saints’ effort against the Jacksonville Jaguars in their joint practice, during which Jacksonville found the endzone a number of times.
Biggest Defensive Concern: A Slow Start
The Cowboys’ offenses went 7/8 to start practice. It wasn’t until the third series of first-team drills that the tide started to improve for New Orleans. After a few downfield passes given up, safety Julian Blackmon grabbed yet another interception, which appeared to help the defense slow things down a bit.
After that, the Dallas offense remained efficient, but mostly in the short area, though they still found a big play or two beyond.
Safety Jordan Howden, Kool-Aid McKisntry, Martin Emerson Jr. and Dalys Beanum all charted pass breakups, with Beanum getting his on the final play of practice on a redzone fade. But all of these came later in the practice day.
Attendance
- Not seen: WR Jordyn Tyson, WR Mason Tipton, CB Rejzohn Wright, LB Chris Rumph II
- Observing: WR Devaughn Vele (rest), DL Christen Miller (shoulder), DL Davon Godchaux (ankle)
- Returned: Neal, Miller, S Terrell Burgess, DL John Ridgeway III
- Left Early: CB Quincy Riley (groin), Kamara (knee)
Defensive Front Made Some Plays
Edge rusher Carl Granderson often drew one-on-ones throughout the day and took advantage of that opportunity with two or three sacks throughout. Only two were outright whistled dead, but Granderson had a strong day both in terms of pass rush and run defense.
Edge rushers Chase Young and Tyree Wilson, defensive lineman Khristian Boyd and linebacker Danny Stutsman were also in the backfield over the course of the day while linebacker Jaylan Ford had a tackle for a loss in the red zone defending a run play.
The Jersey Saga
If you see clips from this practice on social media, you’ll notice that Saints’ defensive players were wearing some old black jerseys. Apparently there was a miscommunication about what colors each team was wearing and with the Saints equipped only with white uniforms, the look was too similar to the Cowboys’ defense, which was also in white.
Some of the better throwbacks were linebacker Pete Werner outfitted in an undersized No. 89 jersey that once belonged to former Saints receiver Chris Tyree. Meanwhile, Ridgeway donned a No. 86 Michael Jacobson jersey and Blackmon wore his original Saints No. 38 jersey for the day. Stutsman, in the meanwhile, embraced the meme potential, wearing No. 67.
