Tag: d’marco jackson

Chris Tabor explains what happened on Johnny Hekker’s fumble

Panthers interim HC Chris Tabor doesn’t care about your fantasy team.

So, did the New Orleans Saints cause a blocked punt or a fumble of Johnny Hekker on Sunday? Whatever it was, it didn’t matter to Carolina Panthers interim head coach Chris Tabor.

In the second quarter of Week 14’s eventual 28-6 loss, the Panthers opened up the flood gates on Hekker—as linebacker Saints Nephi Sewell went untouched to the All-Pro punter. Sewell then blocked, or forced a fumble, on Hekker—giving way to an 8-yard return for a touchdown by Spartanburg native D’Marco Jackson.

Tabor, who is also still Carolina’s special teams coordinator, was asked about the play to kick off his postgame press conference.

“It was a blocked punt,” he said. “Man didn’t go out and block the guy like he was supposed to. So, that’s a mistake that obviously cannot happen.”

At first, the play was ruled as a blocked punt. But since Hekker never actually punted the ball, the league changed it to a fumble.

Either way, it was a bad result.

“To me, it’s a blocked punt,” Tabor later added. “It’s a blocked punt, they scored off it. However people wanna score it in fantasy football, it doesn’t matter to me. We made a mistake, didn’t do our job and that hurt us there.”

Well, hopefully all of your fantasy teams had a fine performance this week, regardless.

[lawrence-related id=687047,687040,686976]

WATCH: Nephi Sewell forces a Panthers fumble and it is returned for a TD

WATCH: Nephi Sewell forces a Panthers special teams fumble and D’Marco Jackson returns it for a big Saints touchdown

With Steve Gleason in the house, the New Orleans Saints come away with a blocked punt against the Carolina Panthers that was brought back for a touchdown.

Nephi Sewell ran through the Panthers special teams virtually unblocked and was able to get to Johnny Hekker in time for a loud block. Fellow young linebacker D’Marco Jackson was there to scoop up the ball and ran it in for the touchdown.

But it’s not going down in the stats sheet as a blocked punt. The NFL office reviewed the play and found that Hekker never actually kicked the ball, so it’s being recorded as a forced fumble, recovery, and return for a special teams touchdown. Either way, the points came as a sigh of relief on a day where neither offense had found consistent success.

[lawrence-auto-related count=4]

Putrid Panthers find another way to give up points against Saints

A TD off a blocked punt for the Saints against the Panthers

The Carolina Panthers are the worst team in the NFL and it isn’t close.

As the NFC South basement residents were in New Orleans on Sunday, they gave the Saints points via special teams.

The punt was blocked and recovered by D’Marco Jackson, who took it back 8 yards for the 14-3 lead after the PAT.

Bryce Young was being tormented by the Saints defense. He was 3-of-15 for 29 yards in the first half.

Saints defense picks up steam after slow start at joint practices with Chargers

Saints defense picked up steam after a slow start at joint practices with the Chargers on Thursday, forcing takeaways and limiting big gains | @southexclusives

If you want your defense to be tested in joint practices, the Los Angeles Chargers are a good team to have on your schedule. They bring an elite young quarterback in Justin Herbert with a litany of weapons at wide receiver and running back, all of whom tested the New Orleans Saints defense on Thursday.

Early in the practice it looked as if the Chargers offense was set to get the best of day one. One on one drills between the wide receivers and defensive backs are normally slanted to the offense anyway. Halfway through one on one drills the Saints secondary flipped a switch and carried that momentum through the rest of the day.

Once practice moved into seven on seven and team portion, the Saints defense kept the Chargers mostly to throws underneath. Alontae Taylor had a good day, taking first team reps, and recorded a few pass breakups. Payton Turner also continued his strong camp with multiple sacks and run stops.

In the running game, Nephi Sewell and Marshon Lattimore combined to force a fumble which Lattimore returned for a touchdown. Rookie defensive end Isaiah Foskey would have had a sack on a play; the teams continued the play and it resulted in a D’Marco Jackson interceptions. Forcing turnovers has been a key for the Saints this offseason, and they’ve forced two in the preseason game and two more in the first day of joint practices.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]

Important Saints position battles to watch in preseason Week 1

The preseason is where position battles are decided. Cornerback and left guard are just two of the intense battles to watch in Saints vs. Chiefs | @southexclusives

The preseason is best for getting young players experience and deciding position battles. These battles won’t be decided in the first week of action, but players can begin to separate themselves from the pack. The New Orleans Saints have a couple of intense position battles currently raging at training camp, which will come to a head Sunday against the Kansas City Chiefs.

Here are the areas you need to keep an eye on and the players you need to watch in each phase of the game:

Saints players to watch at each defensive position in preseason Week 1

Highlighting New Orleans Saints players to watch at each defensive position in preseason Week 1 | @southexclusives

We’re rapidly approaching the first New Orleans Saints preseason game, but which players should fans be watching most closely? There have been a lot of new additions to the defense this offseason — following a surprising amount of turnover in free agency — and a number of competitions for roster spots have heated up throughout training camp.

So let’s run through each position group and highlight some players worth monitoring:

4 burning questions heading into the first Saints preseason game

The Saints are headed into their first preseason game of 2023, and there are several major questions they need to answer against the Chiefs | @southexclusives

The New Orleans Saints head into the first preseason game of the season against the Kansas City Chiefs this Sunday. Officially, the 2023 campaign will be underway.

This will be the first time Derek Carr and many rookies put on a Saints uniform. The preseason will be filled with position battles, such as Alontae Taylor versus Paulson Adebo, and certainly a couple of players will surprise.

It all starts Week 1. Here are some of the biggest questions we’re looking to see answered headed into the Saints- Chiefs preseason matchup:

7 New Orleans Saints returning from injuries in 2023

High-profile players like Michael Thomas and sleepers like D’Marco Jackson and Smoke Monday are among 7 New Orleans Saints returning from injuries in 2023:

The New Orleans Saints have an interesting mix of high-profile starters and sleeper talents returning from injuries in 2023. We’re not counting new additions and rookie draft picks like running back Kendre Miller (meniscus) or others dealing with health challenges (such as tight end Foster Moreau), only players who were on the team last year and who have been brought back for the upcoming season.

Some of them are going to vital to the team’s overall success. Let’s recap each situation with organized team activities on the horizon:

Trevor Penning sheds medical walking boot after Lisfranc surgery

Saints left tackle Trevor Penning shed his bulky medical walking boot after Lisfranc surgery to volunteer with his teammates at Second Harvest Food Bank:

Now this is good to see: not just Trevor Penning representing the New Orleans Saints well at a community outreach event, but doing so without a bulky medical boot slowing him down.

The big left tackle went down with a Lisfranc fracture in the Saints’ regular season finale, a crushing setback for a young player who had already missed the beginning of his rookie year with a serious turf toe injury to his other foot. It was a tough way to end his first career start in the NFL, but it’s encouraging to see Penning recovering like this.

The second-year pro joined his teammates Erik McCoy and D’Marco Jackson at Second Harvest Food Bank to pack supplies and share time with the staff and other volunteers. There’s a lot of pressure on Penning to get his body right and play meaningful snaps this year as the team’s other first-round pick in 2022 (along with wide receiver Chris Olave), but donating his time like this and getting to know his new city is important too.
[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=610625411]

4 second-year Saints who are looking to make a splash in 2023

Smoke Monday and D’Marco Jackson are just some of the second-year New Orleans Saints players who are looking to make a splash in 2023:

The 2023 NFL Scouting Combine is here, and so much attention is being paid to the upcoming rookie class that it’s easy to overlook the players that came before them. And the New Orleans Saints’ list of second-year pros has a lot to offer. We’re making an effort to look past the obvious big names like first-round picks Chris Olave and Trevor Penning, for whom expectations are already high, and instead highlighting some guys who either got a raw deal with injuries or who are better positioned to make plays now than they were last summer.

With that in mind, here are some of the second-year Saints we’re eager to see on the practice field: