By Ross Jackson
METAIRIE, La. — It was the defense’s day at New Orleans Saints’ training camp on Thursday, making several big red zone stops and charting camp’s first interception.
From touchdown throws to red zone takeaways and even a practice dust up, day two of Saints training camp left a lot to discuss.
Defense Wins the Day
It’s often said that the game gets tougher when the field gets shorter for NFL offenses, and that was certainly the case for the Saints on Thursday. New Orleans focused much of the practice on red zone reps, giving their young quarterbacks some tight quarters to work within and the defense took advantage of the opportunity.
There weren’t as many sacks on Thursday as there were on Wednesday, at least not to the naked eye, but there was still a lot of pressure. That pressure eroded the second and third team offensive lines enough that toward the end of the day, the two units combined for three false start penalties. The team struggled to catch a rhythm on that side of the ball, seeing stagnation reminiscent of that of OTAs back in May.
More Than Just a Struggling Offense
After forcing and recovering a fumble on Wednesday, the Saints pass defense showed up in a big way on day two. Rookie cornerback Quincy Riley snagged camp’s first interception, building on his ballhawk reputation. Several defensive backs also notched pass breakups and provided tight coverage throughout the day. Even on plays that were successful for the offense, they found a way to shine. Edge rusher Chase Young got pressure on quarterback Spencer Rattler as he dropped back, tipping the pass that was still caught by the intended receiver. The defense can walk away from this one feeling great and being ready to build on the impressive performance on Friday.
The Quarterback Battle
Of the three quarterbacks throwing on Thursday, third-year passer Jake Haener was the most consistent and impressive. But being on the outside looking in at the quarterback battle, his day is going to struggle to overcome the headliners in Spencer Rattler and Tyler Shough, who saw his first day of first team reps in camp.
Quarterback Rep Distribution
After seeing first team reps on Wednesday, Rattler moved to second team reps while Shough stepped in with the first team. Haener remained with the third.
Here are the number of total reps each player saw, not including re-huddles.
Shough: 15
Rattler: 14
Haener: 11
Shough Rep Charting
First Series of Team Drills:
- Shough incomplete to Chris Olave (Kool-Aid McKinstry in coverage), intermediate left
- Alvin Kamara run left, big hole from the offensive line and nice run by Kamara
- Kendre Miller run right
- Shough complete to Treyton Welch, short right
7-on-7s (Red zone):
- Shough complete to Brandin Cooks (Demario Davis nearest in coverage)
- Shough complete to Kamara, open in the short left area
- Shough complete to Welch (Alontae Taylor in coverage), middle area. Punched out by Taylor, but quickly recovered by Welch.
- Shough complete to Rashid Shaheed (Jordan Howden nearest in coverage), touchdown catch deep in the red zone
Second Series of Team Drills (Red zone):
- Cam Akers run up the middle
- Shough incomplete to Kamara (Pete Werner in coverage), Shough had to get this one out due to pressure and dirted it at Kamara’s feet.
- Devin Neal run up middle, Bryan Bresee with the stop near the line of scrimmage
- Shough incomplete to Cedrick Wilson Jr. (McKinstry and Justin Reid in the area), this was another throwaway in the back of the endzone
Third Series of Team Drills (Red zone):
- Miller run up middle
- Miller run left, great run fill by Davis
- Shough complete to Shaheed (Taylor in coverage) out-breaking route touchdown deep in the red zone.
Shough’s passing stats will suffer because of two throwaways (he was second in the nation last year with 31, per Pro Football Focus). He spoke on this later during his post-practice press conference.
“It’s either now or later,” Shough said. “That’s what [quarterbacks coach Scott Tolzein] told me. He says it all the time. It’s either now, off of rhythm, or you’re scrambling and finding it later or it’s a throwaway. I had a couple… Quite a few throwaways. One to (Kamara). We’re hot, you’re getting it out of your hands, one over the back of the endzone. So you’re trying to limit those negative plays or make the big one.”
Rattler Rep Charting
First Series of Team Drills:
- Rattler complete to Velus Jones Jr. (Nephi Sewell in coverage), intermediate left
- Jones run left
- Chris Olave right right, jet sweep
- Rattler complete to Michael Jacobson, quick pass middle
7-on-7s (Red zone):
- Rattler complete to Olave (Rico Payton and Ugo Amadi in the area), intermediate-deep left
- Rattler incomplete to Jack Stoll (Payton in coverage), pass breakup by Payton on the right sideline
- Rattler incomplete to Jones, quick left
- Rattler incomplete to Moliki Matavao (Payton in coverage), scramble drill
Second Series of Team Drills (Red zone):
- Rattler complete to Olave (Quincy Riley in coverage), quick right and Olave danced for some extra years after the catch
- Rattler complete to Matavao (Amadi in coverage), ball tipped by Young, still caught in the short left area
- Penalty: False start. Josh Ball was taken out and replaced by Barry Wesley
- Penalty: False start.
- Rattler incomplete to Olave (Terrell Burgess in coverage), diving pass breakup by Burgess. Chris Rumph with pressure on the play
Third Series of Team Drills (Red zone):
- Rattler complete to Clyde Edwards-Helaire (Danny Stutsman in coverage)
- Rattler incomplete to Mason Tipton (Riley in coverage) interception by Riley, this was later noted as a throwaway attempt
- Rattler scrambles up middle of rushing touchdown
Rattler’s day slowed down a bit from last practice’s fast start. He gave up the first interception of Saints training camp, but then turned back around to run into the endzone. He addressed the interception and following touchdown response after practice.
“It was a really clean day up until that,” he said. “I think that’s the biggest focus, is we had to finish the day out strong. You’ve got to start fast and finish faster. You’ve just got to make a smart play, throw it away further if I’m going to do it in the back of the endzone. But you’ve got to respond. Next play mentality. If they want to open it up, go ahead and run it in.”
Haener Rep Charting
First Series of Team Drills:
- Neal run up the middle, Rumph stop
- Shaheed run left, jet sweep, Burgess stop
- Haener complete to Shaheed, play action rollout, intermediate right
- Marcus Yarns run up middle
7-on-7s (Red zone):
- Haener complete to Juwan Johnson (Jaylan Ford in coverage), short left
- Haener complete to Johnson (Rejzohn Wright in coverage), toe-tapping touchdowns left endzone
- Haener incomplete to Kevin Austin Jr. (Jayden Price in coverage), back of endzone left
- Haener incomplete to Olave (Dalys Beanum in coverage), short right, quick pass
Second Series of Team Drills:
- Penalty: False start. Easton Kilty replaced with Dillon Radunz
- Jones run up middle, ball came out, recovered by Wright. May have been blown dead before the fumble
- Haener incomplete to Cooks (Wright in coverage), fight ensued
Passing Completion/Attempts (Running Total)
Shough: 6/10, two passing touchdowns (8/16, two passing touchdowns)
Rattler: 6/11, one interception, one rushing touchdown (15/19, one interception, one rushing touchdown)
Haener: 3/6, one touchdown (7/12, one touchdown)
These totals take into account both team drills and 7-on-7s from each day of camp so far.
Attendance
All players that are not on an injury list were present and participating. New signees safety Julian Blackmon and defensive lineman Jonathan Bullard were both present and received limited team snaps. They will continue to see their reps ramp up as they acclimate.
Squabble Up
Following Haener’s final passing rep, the incompletion to Cooks, there was a dust up between Cooks and a lot of the defensive secondary. The fight looked to have started between Cooks and Wright and then several other players joined in. In real time, it had looked like Taylor was also involved, but he came from the sideline, already without a helmet and then got into the middle of things by trying to step in between Cooks and Wright, who had hold of one another. A helmet tumbled to the ground, with many assuming that it belonged to Taylor.
All-in-all the situation diffused quickly. Head coach Kellen Moore didn’t seem too bothered by the event in his media availability.
Charlie Smyth Kicks
The Irishman was up for field goals and had an unfortunate showing, missing three of his last five attempts.
His two makes were from extra point distance and 36 yards out.
His three misses were from 40, 47 and 49 yards.
James Burnip’s Hangtime
Rookie punter Burnip took the field in the punter rotation Thursday and showed off a booming leg in the process. The former Alabama punter stands at 6-foot-6, 236-pounds and looks like he could be a backup tight end, but the leg is clearly impressive.
4.68s, 4.38s, 4.91s, 4.19s, 4.72s, 4.13s, 4.93s, 4.10s, 4.8s, and 4.97s
Punt Returner Rotation
For anyone wondering (again) if Shaheed is going to see fewer snaps in the return game, things don’t look to be shaping up that way earlier in camp. He was among a small group of punt returners while Burnip was kicking.
Shaheed, McKinstry, Pettis, Jones, Amadi and wideout Donovan Peoples-Jones all fielded punts during practice.
One More Observation
The offseason work between Shough and Shaheed as well as Rattler and Olave have paid dividends for both pairings. Both of Shough’s touchdowns were to Shaheed, and Rattler targeted Olave three times during practice, notching two receptions.
Following the incomplete pass to Olave during third team drills, wide receivers coach Keith Williams wasted no time providing coaching and insight. On the route, an out-breaking one, Olave lost his footing out of the break. Williams then talked to the receiver, coaching him up from the time it took the rest of the team to line up for punts until after Burnip’s seventh punt. It was a long session between the two with Williams looking to provide adjustments and advice.
Officials a Big Part of Practices
For the second day in a row, the Saints had officials out at practice. Moore said that their presence is likely to be a consistent one throughout camp.
“As many days as we can,” he said about how often the team intends to have officials present. “… I think there’s always options available. Sometimes there’ll be NFL officials at certain parts of our camp, and then we have an opportunity to bring some guys who are more from a local perspective who’ve officiated college or high school around here.”
