New Orleans Saints cornerback Kool-Aid McKinstry sees the team’s recent joint practice work as an opportunity for him and the cornerback room to continue to get better.
There have been some standouts already between him, Jayden Price and Martin Emerson Jr. at cornerback throughout camp. The next steps come with the hard work of competition. A principle the Saints have embraced, holding three joint practices over a stretch of seven days.
“I feel like this week definitely is one of the toughest weeks of camp,” McKinstry said after the final joint practice against the Los Angeles Rams. “But if you love this game, you love this game. It’s another opportunity. I was talking to the corners today like, this opportunity is something to evaluate. It’s nothing to even think about it being a tough week. We just get a chance to come out here and do what we love to do.”
In the team’s most recent joint practices, it faced two of the top offenses from the 2025 season.
The Dallas Cowboys’ offense ranked No. 2 in both total yards and passing yards last year while the Rams were at the top of the NFL in both categories.
For McKinstry and the cornerbacks, the opportunity to face off against the top two passing offenses of 2025 is an opportunity to improve for the Saints’ top-10 overall defensive unit.
“I like those challenges and I’m pretty sure my guys do, too,” he said. “We talk about these days. We go over these guys’ films before we go out here and play against them. We see what they can do and these guys are great guys to go against. We know as a secondary that can’t do nothing but make us better so we embrace it.”
McKinstry has had an outstanding training camp this offseason and has stepped into a larger leadership role for his group and the defense. With that, his embracing of the challenge of these joint practices has appeared to resonate in the guys around him.
While the room manages attrition with Quincy Riley having suffered a groin injury, the rest of the room is rising to the occasion and competing with the same level of intention.
McKinstry is setting the tone and the position group is holding up its end of the bargain with a chance to improve and continue to develop.
“I feel like we’re still jelling,” said McKinstry. “I feel like it’s some things that we definitely can learn from these two scrimmages. And, we’ve just going to keep jelling, jelling, jelling to that day before that first game for sure.”
