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Highlighting three New Orleans Saints players who performed well in the team’s 26-24 preseason victory over the Chiefs | @crissy_froyd
The New Orleans Saints opened live action Sunday at the Caesars Superdome, defeating the Kansas City Chiefs 26-24 in a game that came down to the wire. As expected, the majority of the starters on both teams rose to the occasion, but a number of backups and those simply looking to make the cut at all turned some heads as well.
Here’s a look into three players who stood out and could make good cases for themselves moving forward:
Pro Ducks were all over the place making big plays during the first week of the NFL preseason.
College football is right around the corner, but we were able to get our first tastes of NFL football over the weekend with the first look at preseason games.
There is a long list of Oregon Ducks in the NFL, and while most are established starters who didn’t get more than a series or two of playing time over the weekend, if that, there are several others who got a chance to play and try to earn a roster spot going into the season.
Here are some of the top highlights, reactions, and performances from Pro Ducks over the weekend:
Six months ago Ugo Amadi was celebrating his Chiefs’ Super Bowl win. On Sunday, he intercepted his former team in their preseason game with the Saints:
INTERCEPTED! 🤚
Alontae Taylor tips it, and Ugo Amadi with the INT!#Saints | đź“ş: FOX pic.twitter.com/SU0bGegbwa
— New Orleans Saints (@Saints) August 13, 2023
Take a bow, Ugo Amadi — and make sure to thank Alontae Taylor for the assist. Six months ago Amadi was enjoying himself at the Kansas City Chiefs’ Super Bowl parade, having played a part in their championship win on the practice squad. But he wasn’t re-signed in the offseason.
Instead, he landed with the New Orleans Saints and performed well in training camp as Bradley Roby’s backup to cover the slot. That positivity peaked with an interception in Sunday’s preseason game with Kansas City.
Taylor deflected a pass from Chiefs backup quarterback Shane Buechele which Amadi snapped out of the air, setting up the offense near midfield in Kansas City territory. The offense wasn’t able to make much headway, though, but punter Blake Gillikin took advantage of the field position to drop a punt at the 5-yard line.
A great special teams play by wide receiver Kawaan Baker kept the ball inbounds short of the goal line, and rookie safety Jordan Howden downed it at the 1-yard line. The Chiefs ran out the clock to send New Orleans into halftime up 17-7. And Amadi’s takeaway started the whole sequence.
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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:
Khalen Saunders missed Saints practice on Tuesday to visit the White House with his former Chiefs teammates. Let’s hope he returns with the Saints next year:
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At the end of the day.. we did that shit our way.
That’s why we blessed now.#SackNation #StuffNation #2xWorldChamps pic.twitter.com/XrakRQu1my
— Saint Binky 2x (@khalenNOTkaylen) June 6, 2023
While his New Orleans Saints teammates were enjoying a productive day of practice back home, Khalen Saunders was catching up with old friends and glad handing dignitaries at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. He and many of his former Kansas City Chiefs teammates accepted an invitation to visit the White House as reigning Super Bowl champions, where they were recognized for their achievements by President Joe Biden.
Saunders shared photos and anecdotes from the visit on his social media profiles, including an impressive selfie taken in front of a portrait of former President John Tyler (Saunders noted that, “To be completely honest I had no idea who that is,”) and a shot of his old teammate Frank Clark dozing in a viewing gallery facing the Washington Monument.
It’s unclear if Ugo Amadi also was in attendance; the Saints safety ended the 2022 season on the Chiefs practice squad and won a championship ring just like everyone else on their team, and he enjoyed himself at a celebratory parade in Kansas City after the Super Bowl. Like Saunders, he also wasn’t in attendance for Saints practice this week, so maybe he made the trip to Washington, D.C., as well. Let’s hope they’re both returning with the Saints this time next year as back-to-back Super Bowl champs.
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Meet the Team: Who is New Orleans Saints safety Ugo Amadi, and what are realistic expectations for him in 2023? The former Seahawks nickel has seen it all:
Who is New Orleans Saints safety Ugo Amadi, and what are realistic expectations for him in 2023? The unheralded free agent pickup surprised a lot of fans by picking the coveted No. 0 jersey after signing with the Saints, and now he’s in the middle of an offseason competition for a spot on the roster. But will he hold onto that sought-after jersey and make it through roster cuts later this summer?
We’ll just have to wait and see. In the meantime, let’s get to know him a little better:
Report: New Orleans Saints safety Ugo Amadi will be the first player to wear coveted No. 0 jersey in decades
Here’s a cool scoop: WDSU’s Fletcher Mackel reports that New Orleans Saints safety Ugo Amadi has chosen the newly-approved No. 0 jersey, having signed with the team as a free agent earlier this offseason. It’s been a good year for Amadi, who got his hands on that coveted new number just months after he helped the Kansas City Chiefs win a Super Bowl championship while coming off their practice squad.
The NFL recently made the number available for defensive backs, linebackers, quarterbacks, punters, kickers, running backs, fullbacks, tight ends, and wide receivers.
That’s probably going to disappoint some of his rookie teammates who wore the number in college, like Vanderbilt linebacker Anfernee Orji, but veterans often get priority. If Orji (or anyone else) wants to take the number for his own he’ll need to prove he’s more deserving of a roster spot in training camp this summer. Amadi wore Nos. 14 and 7 in college while using Nos. 28, 32, 38, and 39 (which he was previously listed in on the Saints’ roster) in the NFL, so this is a new development for him.
But he isn’t the first player to wear No. 0 in team history. Back before the NFL more tightly regulated jersey number designations and made it unavailable, defensive back Obert Logan used No. 0 in the Saints’ inaugural 1967 season; in 1970, wide receiver Ken “Double Zero” Burrough wore No. 00, which is no longer available.
We’ll see if Amadi hangs onto this number or if it ends up in other hands by September. He’s one of several defensive backs the Saints have brought in to push second-year pro Smoke Monday for a roster spot, along with Lonnie Johnson Jr., Isaac Yiadom, Johnathan Abram, as well as rookie draft pick Jordan Howden (Minnesota) and undrafted free agent pickup Anthony Johnson (Virginia).
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The Saints signed former Seahawks safety Ugo Amadi, who has been busy celebrating the new Super Bowl ring he won while on the Chiefs practice squad:
Ugo Amadi just became one of the rare players to win a Super Bowl and join a new team just three weeks later. The veteran safety was on the Kansas City Chiefs practice squad when they took down the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LVII, but the Chiefs chose to not retain him on a reserve/future deal, making him a free agent. Now the NFL transactions wire reports that he has signed with the New Orleans Saints.
So, hey: good for him. Amadi started his career with the Seattle Seahawks as fourth-round pick out of Oregon back in 2019, and he stayed in the Pacific Northwest for three years until Seattle traded him to the Philadelphia Eagles — who promptly traded him to the Tennessee Titans, where he was let go midseason. The Chiefs picked him up and the rest is history.
What’s important is that he’s now a Saint. Amadi has played a lot of snaps on special teams through his various stops in the NFL and his best chance at winning a roster spot in New Orleans is by carving out a role in the kicking game. He also started most of the 2020 and 2021 seasons for Seattle in the slot, and that gives him an opportunity as the Saints continue to look for the C.J. Gardner-Johnson replacement they lacked last year.
The list of Saints safeties now under contract for 2023 includes Tyrann Mathieu, Marcus Maye, Smoke Monday, and Amadi. Backups P.J. Williams, Justin Evans, and Daniel Sorensen are all unrestricted free agents.
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There are three former Titans vying for their first Super Bowl ring.
When the Philadelphia Eagles meet the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LVII on Sunday, there will be three former Tennessee Titans players with a chance to win a ring.
On the Eagles, former Titans punter Brett Kern and wide receiver A.J. Brown will each have a shot at their first. On the Chiefs, defensive back Ugo Amadi, who is also a Tennessee native, is the other ex-Titan in the Big Game. He’s currently on Kansas City’s practice squad, though, so he may not play.
While Titans fans are very much divided on their desire to see Brown win a title after everything that transpired following the trade, there is pretty much 100 percent support for Kern to win one.
Earlier this week, Brown said he had “no hard feelings” towards the Titans or their fans despite his ugly exit from Nashville.
“I think early on as a man I could say I was speaking from a place of feelings, and I had to learn it’s a business,” Brown said, per Jim Wyatt of Titans Online. “But I have no hard feelings for nobody in Tennessee, the fans, none of that. Tennessee gave me my first shot, so there’s definitely respect… I still have love for Tennessee.”
Super Bowl LVII will kick off from Glendale, Arizona, on Sunday, Feb. 12, at 6:30 p.m. ET.
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Two Oregon Ducks alumni, Ugo Amadi and Devon Allen, are on practice squads for the Chiefs and Eagles as they prepare for Super Bowl LVII.
Super Bowl LVII is set to take place in Glendale, Arizona, on Sunday, Feb. 12 between the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs. Two of the league’s best offenses are led by superstar quarterbacks Jalen Hurts and Patrick Mahomes.
For Oregon fans, however, this matchup isn’t likely to offer an opportunity to see any former Ducks in action.
San Francisco getting eliminated prevented former Oregon stars Arik Armstead and Deommodore Lenoir from reaching the Super Bowl. Neither Kansas City nor Philadelphia have any Oregon alumni on the active roster.
However, both have a former Oregon player on their practice squads. Defensive back Ugo Amadi is on Kansas City’s practice squad, and wide receiver/sprinter Devon Allen is on Philadelphia’s.
Amadi began the year with Tennessee but caught on with Kansas City. He appeared in one game with the Chiefs (Week 10) and spent the rest of the season on the practice squad.
He has played 50 career NFL games and has 131 tackles, 13 passes defended, six tackles for loss and an interception, so he’s absolutely an option for the Chiefs should an injury befall them prior to the big game.
Allen is much less likely to get the call for the Eagles. It would be his first NFL action after spending the entire season on the practice squad without reaching the active roster.
Oregon fans will have to wait and see if more former standouts — perhaps Justin Herbert in Los Angeles or Armstead and Lenoir in San Francisco — can make the Super Bowl in 2024. At least a pair of Ducks will get the very cool experience of practicing and preparing for a game in February.
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