The New Orleans Saints held their ninth practice Wednesday morning on the outdoor fields at their facility on Airline Drive. The Saints practiced for a little less than two hours with more emphasis on working in the red zone. The Black & Gold worked out in shorts and shoulder pads this morning. The afternoon practice is indoors and closed to the public.
One thing that was evident early on in practice was that RB Reggie Bush was wearing a big ice pack on his left knee. Bush came out to practice, then shortly after was iced down. Reggie says there is no need to worry.
"I'm still getting back into the swing of things and getting back used to the workload and the long practices and the strenuous work I am putting on my knee. That's really it." Bush went on to say that he has had an MRI to make sure that his knee is ok."We did an MRI a few days ago and everything came back great. Now it's about me getting myself back into football shape and getting my knee used to carrying the load again."
Another player that left the field was CB Randall Gay (above). Gay left practice with what was described as a bruised Achilles heel. Coach Sean Payton did not indicate when Gay would return to the field. The Saints went into red zone work with one on one situations around 9:45am. WR's Courtney Roby and Skyler Green both made nice grabs in the drill. Green hauled in a pass over CB Jason David.
The Saints then worked on special teams for about twenty minutes. With Reggie Bush out of practice, the back-up punt returners struggled catching the football. Devery Henderson, Skyler Green and Tracey Porter have all struggled at times…with Green struggling the most this morning.
WR Lance Moore looks to be the most sure handed player when fielding punts, when Reggie is not available. The Saints then worked on down and distance situations in the next drill, while the offensive and defensive lineman went to one on one drills.
In the one on one drills DT Sedrick Ellis looked really good on one exchange, when he blew by Jahri Evans. DE Will Smith and OT Jamal Brown battled to a draw…with Smith looking good in the first go round, and Brown with the upper hand on the latter. OT Jon Stichcomb got the better of DE Charles Grant, but the highlight of the linemen battle came from DT Rod Coleman.
Coleman, who switched his jersey number from #72 to #75, blew by Carl Nicks and would have easily gotten to the quarter back for a sack. DE Jeff Charleston got around OT Jermon Bushrod. Charleston also ended practice on a high note with a tackle in the backfield.
The Saints then took a short break and went back to team drills. Will Smith stopped RB Mike Bell behind the line of scrimmage for about a two yard loss, and DL Anthony Hargrove applied solid pressure while he was in on defense.
Rookie RB P.J. Hill had his best morning practice with a few nice runs. Hill reeled off a seven yard run and then and six yard run in team drills. "Hill showed good vision and did a nice job of eluding tacklers," Hebert said.
The toughest part of the drill--Devery Henderson dropped what looked to be a TD pass from Drew Brees. Devery was in good shape to haul in a reception, but he could not come up with the ball.
"Tracey Porter had grabbed his jersey and it probably would've been called holding in a game, but Devery still should've caught the ball," said former Saints QB the Cajun Cannon Bobby Hebert.
The Saints Secondary caused one sack on Drew Brees with solid coverage. Because of the solid coverage on Saints receivers, Sedrick Ellis and Charles Grant would've gotten a sack on Brees.
Safety Chip Vaughn picked off his first pass of camp with an interception in the End Zone on Mark Brunell. Drew Brees was money on one play as he threw a high ball in the back of the end zone to WR Marques Colston for a TD.
Charles Grant had a sack in the final drill. CB Jason David dropped a interception. And, then back-up QB Joey Harrington threw a quick strike to RB Pierre Thomas for a score.
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