The New Orleans Saints have, for all intents and purpose, put a bow on training camp 2009. They held just one practice this afternoon inside the Louisiana Superdome.
"The Training camp timeline ended after we finished practicing against the Texans in regards to the two-a-days, and so getting in this routine is important," Head Coach Payton explained.
The Saints are clearly in regular season mode with the practice they did today. They placed a big emphasis on the team portion of practice on situations. The Black and Gold worked on 4 minute offense and defense, 2 minute offense and defense and various odd ball situations -including how to take a safety if they are ahead and need to run the clock out.
"Those drills show me that they are in regular season mode. They are covering a lot of game type situations that they will need to be prepared for before the opener," WWL'S Bobby Hebert explained.
The practice was spirited, perhaps because the players know that two-a-days are gone, and they were inside the Superdome.
"Each year they put a new surface down, the first pre-season game we were still working through the cushion of the surface. They made some changes to try to firm it up, and I wanted to get in here one more time before the company that put it down left town. That was really the main reason," Payton explained why he moved practice to the Dome.
Don't count on this becoming a regular occurrence for the Saints in the Superdome said Coach Payton, "This is only the second time we've ever practiced here. You know, we did it that first year to get used to the footing and the lighting. Today was just getting used to the surface, so I don't envision us coming back here to practice."
Earlier in the day running back Reggie Bush declared that he would play this week against the Raiders. Bush was held out of this afternoon's practice, but Payton said he thinks Bush will play. "I think we see him playing this weekend's game."
Defensive end Charles Grant might be another issue. "This is a week that we say it's questionable now, it may or may not be Saturday’s game. If it's not, I would envision him being able to play Thursday night (pre-season game number 4 against the Dolphins)," Payton explained. Grant is nursing a hamstring injury that he sustained during the pre-season opener against the Bengals.
Wide receiver Adrian Arrington had been inured with a sore hamstring for most of training camp this year. Arrington was the darling of camp last year before being placed on Injured Reserve with an injured toe. He got back on the field for the first time against the Texans, and Coach Payton was fairly impressed. "He played well the other night. It's good to see him healthy. For him it's just getting through the hamstring, and now he's close to 100 percent. So, I was pleased with that."
It may not be the sexiest battle of camp, but with a lot of special teams work conducted today, we got a glimpse at the competition at punter between Thomas Moorstead and Glenn Pakulak. "Both those guys are competing. We're charting everything they do. Anytime they punt the ball, we're recording hang time and distance to make sure we're getting a clean evaluation with both those players."
It seemed as those both punters are plagued by the occasional shank, as evidenced in practice and pre-season games. WWL'S Bobby Hebert agrees. "Yeah, you never know what you’re going to get from either one of them at this point. Thomas Moorstead, however, has the stronger leg and gets more hang time," Hebert said.
The highlights of practice included a continuing theme we've seen through the pre-season... turnovers forced by the defense. The Saints are plus 4 in the take away / give away ratio thus far in the exhibition season. Today the defense picked off 4 passes, including two by cornerback Jabari Greer in the 4 minute team session.
Quote of the day: Joe Vitt, Assistant Head Coach and Linebackers Coach. "Hustle your ass back to the huddle or get out," shouted the fiery Vitt during the team portion of practice today.
The injuries are mounting a bit for the Black and Gold. Here's the rundown from the coach:
Reggie Bush (Running Back) "We held him out." - Bush has been nursing a sore calf and has been dealing with post-surgical swelling in his knee.
Jeff Charleston (Defensive End) "He's got a thumb he's working with."
Scott Shanle (Linebacker) "Practiced, he was better today." -Payton didn't say what had been wrong with him.
Pierre Thomas (Running back) "He's got a medial collateral sprain, nothing serious, none-the-less we just held him out."
Scott Fujita (Linebacker) "Is fine." -He was held out of the Texans game with sore ribs.
Joey Harrington (Quarterback) "We held out just from the game concussion (suffered Saturday)."
Billy Miller (Tight End) "Got work today." -He was nursing a sore knee.
Zack Strief (Tackle) "Got work today." -Had rolled his ankle.
Jamal Brown (Tackle)"Out." He had surgery for a sports hernia and is out several weeks.
Darnell Dinkins (Tight End) "Still working on the ankle, we held him."
Charles Grant (Defensive End) "The hamstring, we held him."
Darren Sharper (Safety) "He's got an Achilles, we held him"
The next three days practice is at 10:45am. Gates open at 10:00am. They practice until 1:15. It will open to the public at the Saints facility in Metairie, weather permitting.
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