The New Orleans Saints wrapped up their 4th day of training camp with another spirited work out. After the offense dominated the morning session, the defense was looking to exact a little revenge. They accomplished their mission, coming out again with a bit of chip on their shoulder in the indoor practice facility.
The team started out with a little kick coverage work, before moving into stretching, and then into some team sessions. In individual drills, I was watching the tight ends do an interesting drill. A coach would stand about 10 yards away with a ball facing the player, and another coach would stand in front of him with a stick and a towel strapped to it.
The 2nd coach would hold the stick in front of the tight end’s face…as two coaches flanked him with blocking shields. On the command “hut” the coach with the stick and towel would drop it in front of the face of the tight end and the player would have to catch a pass, while the two coaches with the shields squeeze him. Fascinating drill! In fact, Billy Miller was almost perfect on the drill dropping only 1 pass out 8.
While the tight ends were working on that, some of the special teams players were working on angle tackling. Because the punters and kickers can’t do a lot in the indoor facility, they have to act as ball carriers in this drill. You can tell running the ball and the prospect of getting tackled by a 220 or 250 pound safety, or possibly a linebacker, doesn’t exactly give them warm and fuzzy feelings. Now, they don’t exactly tackle the kickers, but it’s certainly one of the more comedic portions of practice-- punters and the kicker running with the football.
Now, let’s move on to the meat and potatoes of practice. The “team session” of practice was once again owned by the defense. On the first play, Drew Brees and Marques Colston tried to hook up on a comeback route, but cornerback Tracy Porter was in Colston’s hip pocket and the pass fell incomplete. Defensive End Bobby McCray, provided consistent pressure on the quarterbacks…even stripping Mark Brunell of the ball as he ran past the quarterback in the pocket.
Throughout the session, the offense was clearly off-balance, and for the second straight day the defense was on the receiving end of a Drew Brees interception. Randall Gay came up with a nice pick on a deep ball intended for Devery Henderson. And, later in the session, Tracy Porter scooped up a low pass from Brees and picked up about 15 yards on the return. “It was a low throw; I just took a gamble on it a bit, and it paid off. I had to really work for that one,” Porter said after practice.
Local product Skyler Green had the catch of the day with a nice leaping catch over the middle on a crossing route. Mike Bell continues to prompt oh’s and ah’s from the media with his explosive runs. I have noticed a bit of disturbing trend with Bell, however--I’ve witnessed a couple of fumbles, when he’s involved in violent collisions.
Odd’s and Ends: Kicker Garrett Hartley was booming field goals through the uprights from about 50 yards with plenty of room to spare. That’s certainly a good sign, if the Saints need a long game winning field goal.
One of the differences I’ve noticed from the defense under coordinator Gregg Williams has to be the multiple looks. They bring pressure from every part of the field. "You never know where it's coming from with coach Gibbs," explained cornerback Tracy Porter. Look out opposing teams… I think you could see a lot more blitzing from the cornerback spot this season.
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