The Saints returned to work Monday seeking to erase the bad taste left in their mouths following a preseason loss to Houston. It was a loss in which the defense allowed 405 yards of Texans offense and had boos cascading down from the fans inside the Superdome.
SAFETY HELP ADDED
The Saints added veteran safety Lance Shulters Monday. Shulters is a 10 year veteran who has reached the Pro Bowl with San Francisco in 1999. Shulters was also a member of the Titans and has spent the last two seasons seeing limited action with the Falcons and Dolphins.
"He's a veteran safety. We brought in three or four guys yesterday to workout and he was one of them. He gives us some experience and some versatility in that he probably can play either strong of free," said Payton. "He's in pretty good shape."
Former LSU defensive tackle Anthony "Booger" McFarland was among those working out.
SHOCKEY GEARING UP
To borrow a famous chef's line, tight end Jeremy Shockey is "kicking it up a notch." Shockey, who has seen very limited work on the field this training camp, is planning on practicing more this week with the team and getting into the game in Cincinnati on Saturday.
"This week I'm going to push it a little bit more and just see how it goes from there," Shockey said. He added that until he tests the injured leg and ankle further, he won't know for sure how far he can go.
As the regular season nears, Shockey realizes that he can only do so much of the "mental reps" approach and has to begin to condition his body to game like situations. "You don't want to have a setback in anyway. You know we got a long time until our first real football game. I'm just excited to go out and work hard this week and just see how it feels when I go full speed," said Shockey.
"Today was certainly more reps than he's gotten," said Payton following practice. "The plan is to get him in Saturday."
DEALING WITH THE MEDIA
Former George W. Bush Press Secretary Ari Fleischer was at Saints camp Monday and spoke with the team about media relations. The NFL mandates that every team have at least one individual come in and talk about how to handle and deal with media coverage. Fleischer was in Green Bay earlier in the month during the Brett Favre saga.
HIGHLIGHTS
In the brief access allowed in Monday's practice, two plays stood out. Receiver Lance Moore beat DB Mike McKenzie for a 50 yard TD. Also, linebacker Scott Shanle snagged a Drew Brees pass that was tipped at the line.
ON TAP
The Saints will have practice just once from here on out, beginning late in the morning and wrapping up early in the afternoon. Saturday night the Saints take on the Bengals in the third preseason game of the season. Kick off is set for 6:30.
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