Tag: Practice

Saints shaking up their offensive line before preseason finale

The Saints are shaking up their offensive line before the preseason finale. Oli Udoh is splitting snaps with Trevor Penning at right tackle:

It’s taken some time, but the New Orleans Saints are shaking up their offensive line before Sunday’s preseason finale with the Tennessee Titans. Olisaemeka Udoh is splitting snaps with Trevor Penning at right tackle, and rookie standout Kyle Hergel is getting looks on the first-team lineup at left guard.

Change needed to happen, but some of this is due to injuries. Nick Saldiveri hasn’t been able to practice since July 29 which opened a hole at left guard. His replacement Lucas Patrick exited Wednesday’s practice with what head coach Dennis Allen described as muscle cramps. At right tackle, Penning’s progress has remained incremental. Udoh was already taking the second-team snaps on that side. After stepping in for Penning during a single series at Tulane’s open practice session, Udoh and Penning split reps evenly on Wednesday. Now it’s a real competition.

It’s business as usual at the other spots. Taliese Fuaga is still shaking off a back issue so Landon Young is filling in for him at left tackle. Erik McCoy and Cesar Ruiz remain the only starters returning from last year at center and right guard. Hergel’s case is interesting, though. He’s taken almost all of the  second-team reps behind Ruiz at right guard this summer but now he’s earning practice time with the starters at left guard and, occasionally, center on the second team. He’s put himself in great position to make the team and dress out on game days.

Allen has stressed the need to identify the five best linemen to start up front. Could that combination include Udoh and Hergel instead of Penning, Patrick, or Saldiveri? Maybe, maybe not. Time is running out for these late entrants to make their case in those competitions. But so long as Penning is struggling to handle his assignments and Saldiveri is unable to get on the practice field, it’s anyone’s game.

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Juwan Johnson shares health update: ‘I would like to say I’m 100’

New Orleans Saints tight end Juwan Johnson shared a health update after returning to practice: ‘I would like to say I’m 100’

Juwan Johnson made his New Orleans Saints training camp debut on Tuesday. Last time we saw Johnson was in minicamp before going down with a foot injury.

He was asked after practice how he felt, to which Johnson replied, “I would like to say I’m 100 (percent).” The operative words here are “‘I would like to say.’”

Sometimes players feel ready to go mentally before they’re actually ready to go physically, and Johnson understands that his perception may not be reality on his health. Dennis Allen has already made it clear that while Johnson is back at practice, but the Saints will ease him back into his usual workload.

While Johnson felt great, the medical team had to real him in at certain points in his recovery. He continued, “They’ve been really patient. I’ve been pushing the envelope a little bit, a little too much to be honest.”

His pushing the envelope was evident. WWL’s Jeff Nowak praised how crisp Johnson looked. It wouldn’t be shocking if Johnson felt he could have returned even earlier. He chalked his return date up to him not being meant to practice in California. Now that the team is back in Louisiana, he’s working to get up to speed.

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Saints to ramp up Juwan Johnson ‘slowly but surely’

Dennis Allen says the Saints are taking the slow and safe route with Juwan Johnson, but he acknowledges the value in the timing of Johnson’s return:

New Orleans Saints tight end Juwan Johnson returned to practice on Tuesday. It was the team’s first open practice at Yulman Stadium, and fans were treated to something special. Publicly, Johnson’s path to return took expedited turn north when he was removed from the physically unable to perform list.

Now that Johnson has returned, Saints head coach Dennis Allen says the plan is to “slowly but surely start to ramp him up.” They’re excited to have him back. Johnson’s return comes at a good time for the team.

“We need him, we need (Rashid) Shaheed, we need some of these players that we’re counting on in the passing game, so we can get the timing and the rhythm in the passing game,” Allen said after practice.

Johnson has missed the entirety of camp while recovering from offseason foot surgery. These two weeks before the season opener will be vital for him actually getting reps in the new offense. He’s surely continued to study and learn the playbook, but there’s no replacement for actually running the plays.

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WATCH: Rookie kicker Charlie Smyth boots 65-yard field goal at Saints practice

Rookie kicker Charlie Smyth connected on a 65-yard field goal at New Orleans Saints practice. It might’ve been good from 70:

Have a night, Charlie Smyth. The rookie kicker from Northern Ireland has picked up the American game quickly after playing Gaelic football, and he’s made life tough for New Orleans Saints incumbent Blake Grupe.

And when the Saints kicked off their open practice at Tulane’s Yulman Stadium on Tuesday night, Smyth stole the show. He capped his eight field goal tries — nailing seven of them with a miss from 55 yards — by booting a 65-yarder through the uprights. Nola.com’s Jeff Duncan noted it was near the same spot Tom Dempsey once set an NFL record from 63 yards.

That’s very impressive. Smyth has a big leg but he’s put in the work to hone his craft in a very short time. ESPN’s Katherine Terrell shared that he first kicked an American football almost exactly one year ago on Aug. 22. If he can keep developing and earning confidence from his coaches, Smyth just might unseat Grupe. This Sunday’s final preseason game with the Tennessee Titans looms large.

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Free tickets still available for Saints practice at Yulman Stadium

Free tickets are still available for the New Orleans Saints’ open practice at Yulman Stadium on Tuesday night, but act fast to claim yours:

Have you been wanting to see your New Orleans Saints in action? The Saints are returning home from their monthlong training camp in Irvine, Calif., and they’ll be hosting two open practices this week for locals to come out and see the team. This will be your first opportunity of the offseason.

First up is an open practice at the 30,000-seat Yulman Stadium on Tulane’s campus. It’s free to attend, but tickets must be claimed in advance. The open practice is scheduled for Tuesday, Aug. 20 at 7 p.m. CT so act quickly.

There are also some tickets available  for their second open practice at the Caesars Superdome on Friday, Aug. 23 at 1 p.m. CT. Just like the Yulman Stadium practice, this event is free and open to the public, but fans must claim their tickets ahead of time.

It’s been a long time since locals had the opportunity to see their team in person. The Saints moved training camp to sunny Southern California to accommodate large-scale renovations to their training facility in Metairie, so it’ll be good to have them back in the area. They have spent the entirety of their preseason on the West Coast. Even their preseason games were in Arizona and California. During their practices in Irvine, the Saints didn’t open any practices to the public.

Everything leads up to their final preseason  game with the Tennessee Titans on Sunday, Aug. 25 before roster cuts on Aug. 27 and the regular season  kickoff game against the Carolina Panthers on Sept. 8. It’ll be here before we know it.

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Saints players try their hands at the viral grip test after training camp practice

New Orleans Saints players tried their hands at the viral grip test challenge after training camp practice. Who has the strongest hands on the team?

A little fun never hurts anybody, especially during the rigors of training camp. And who doesn’t want bragging rights for having the strongest hands on the team?

The New Orleans Saints social media team brought out the grip test after a recent practice session, which allowed for some fun competition for the guys. It’s a viral trend going around the league; the Philadelphia Eagles have also shared their results.

A variety of position groups competed here, starting with many of the defensive linemen all the way to kicker Blake Grupe, which brought some good laughs given his smaller stature. One thing that was interesting was tight end Foster Moreau getting the highest score reaching the 200 number. This surpassed guys like Chase Young, Willie Gay Jr., Carl Granderson and Bryan Bresee who we would assume due to their build and the nature of their position, would receive the higher numbers.

Of this exercise though, maybe the most enjoyable part was the players’ reactions. Hearing many of the guys screaming and yelling like they’re in the weight room is hilarious. Small things like this are what allows players to bond with each other outside of the game, and it’s great to see the many smiles on their faces at such an arduous time of the year.

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Watch: Willie Gay Jr. mic’d up at New Orleans Saints training camp

Newcomer Willie Gay Jr. was mic’d up at a recent New Orleans Saints training camp practice. Here’s a day of work from his perspective.

The New Orleans Saints finally placed a microphone on a new addition. After getting perspective from offensive players back to back in Rashid Shaheed and Cesar Ruiz, the Saints dipped back into the defensive pool with Willie Gay Jr. Alontae Taylor was the first player to be mic’d up at Saints training camp and also the last defender.

Throughout the video, you can see the energy he goes through practice with. He’s racing Dennis Allen, dancing, and talking with anyone in earshot about more dancing and the music playing.

There were no pads worn for this practice, which was uncomfortable to Gay because the Saints had worn pads so many days in a row at that point. Gay is already endearing himself to fans who watch this video.

“I look good in Black and Gold,” Gay said. “I didn’t look this good in red and yellow.”

Gay is new to the team, but he’s clearly connected fast and fits right in. His attitude and talent make him a strong fit in the middle unit of the Saints defense.

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Golf instruction: The perfect week of practice

There is a difference between going to the range without a plan and practicing with a purpose.

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There is a difference between going to the range without a plan and practicing with a purpose.

If you go to the range, get a large bucket and randomly hit all 14 clubs in your bag, you’ve come to the right place. Almost everything works out better when you are prepared with a plan. You can focus on benchmarks, improvements, repeatability and consistency.

This week, Golfweek’s fitness guru and long driver Averee Dovsek demonstrates how to structure a week’s worth of practice that yields results.

If you’re interested in any of Averee’s fitness content, click here.

If you’re looking for more instruction, click here.

Patrick Mahomes reveals Chiefs training camp pizza party tradition

Patrick Mahomes revealed that the Chiefs go out as a team to get pizza during training camp to build camaraderie after practice.

A nearly universal desire is to get a pizza after an exhausting day at work. The Kansas City Chiefs make it a yearly training camp tradition to head up the local St. Joseph Neapolitan-style pizzeria II Lazzarone.

The Chiefs go out as a team a few times during the camp after drills to build camaraderie ahead of the coming season and relax after their intense sessions at Missouri Western State University

“Don’t remember that for next year and try to storm up my party,” joked Patrick Mahomes as he talked about this year’s team outing after the penultimate day of practice, in this clip from the end-of-camp press conference posted by KCTV5’s Marleah Campbell on Twitter:

A team that trains this hard has to stay fueled up, it’s a safe bet the pizzeria was working that night the same way the Chiefs worked on the field at practice. See Kansas City’s defending champions back on the field at Arrowhead Stadium this Saturday against the Detroit Lions.

Marshon Lattimore begins practicing for first time since July 26 injury

Marshon Lattimore went down with a hip flexor injury on Day 3 of Saints training camp. On Tuesday, he was seen practicing for the first time since July 26:

For the first time since suffering a hip flexor injury early on in New Orleans Saints training camp, Marshon Lattimore was seen working with trainers on the sidelines at Tuesday’s practice session.

In his absence, rookie cornerback Kool-Aid McKinstry has taken over Lattimore’s duties opposite of Paulson Adebo (who has missed some time with his own injury). The rookie being able to get first team reps for a large portion of training camp is a silver lining of the injury. McKinstry is better for having the extra reps.

Lattimore went down on July 26, the third day of training camp. A couple days later, Dennis Allen called the injury concerning, but not something he was losing sleep over. Lattimore has missed a lot of time over the last two years and didn’t finish the 2023 season. His injury felt like continuation of a pattern. It had a little over two weeks since Allen’s comments and this is the first update we’ve received.

This is progress. Lattimore working to the side means he is at least getting closer to returning. It could easily be a few weeks away. The Saints may choose to hold Lattimore out for the duration of training camp out of necessity or precaution.

Seeing him work individually provides a bit of optimism around the possibility of Lattimore being available for the season opener against the  Carolina Panthers.

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