The Saints defense made the adjustments and looked strong against Justin Herbert and the Chargers on Day 2 of joint practices.
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00:00 Hey everyone, John Hendricks here for Saints News Network, going to give you another recap
00:03 for Saints Training Camp.
00:05 But first, as always, we start with focusing in on our today's sponsor, which would be
00:11 Justin Burgess of BendPro.
00:13 Thank you for sponsoring today's show.
00:14 Again, if you have a business in the greater New Orleans region and you need any help whatsoever
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00:28 All right.
00:29 So, as you've seen, Saints Training Camp, we got a little bit different things on the
00:35 video today just because some Wi-Fi issues, all that fun stuff.
00:39 And so, look, forgive the guerrilla style, whatever you want.
00:44 They're tearing down Chargers Training Camp, as we speak.
00:47 So everybody's getting out of Dodge and there's several of us still around doing some work.
00:52 So today, we focused in on the defense.
00:56 That was the main thing.
00:57 So we thought there's two fields out here and we thought that the same thing as before,
01:02 what we're going to have is everybody flips the field.
01:05 But the field I was at yesterday ended up having the Saints defense come with Justin
01:09 Herbert and the Chargers offense.
01:11 So a little bit interesting wrinkle today.
01:14 But look, I think first things, of course, we want to talk about attendance.
01:17 So among those to return, Lynn Bowden Jr. today.
01:20 Shaq Davis was in absence today.
01:23 We don't know exactly what's going on there.
01:25 And then, of course, the big news there, we saw Taysom Hill out here.
01:29 So he did make the trip and he was in just a jersey, no pads or anything like that.
01:34 So that's a big noticeable one.
01:37 Cesar Ruiz, once again, working off to the side.
01:40 Rashid Taheed also working off to the side.
01:42 Demario Davis is participating in walkthroughs, individual drills.
01:46 He's still working off to the side and such.
01:48 And so, again, we talked about the health.
01:50 It looks like it might be coming back a little bit for this team.
01:53 But ultimately, the big thing for today, take away is Marshawn Latimore.
01:58 Tweaked his knee a little bit, planted and felt something awkward.
02:03 Dennis Allen held him out of practice as a precautionary measure.
02:07 Look, at one point, it was on his left knee that he had a big old rap with ice.
02:13 And he was able to stay on the sidelines.
02:16 I think that's the encouraging thing, is that he was able to stay on the sidelines.
02:19 So if he left the field, carted off or anything, we'd be much more worried about
02:24 it, but with that, I think he's gonna be okay, nothing serious at least.
02:28 So we may shut him down for a couple of days, let him rest and heal.
02:32 Obviously, they need Marshawn Latimore or something fierce.
02:35 This defense, though, I think did an exceptional job on the day.
02:38 That's where we focused all our attention.
02:40 Look, I had Justin Herbert today on the day, 12 of 25 in team.
02:44 And so they went through five different team sessions today.
02:49 Make of that what you will.
02:50 I think the Saints defense did an exceptional job.
02:52 They only gave up two touchdowns.
02:54 One of those was with Easton Stick, one with Justin Herbert.
02:58 I think that they had some good coverage on the day.
03:00 It was a lot of dink and dunk.
03:02 I think that's the main thing that you take away, is that it's all the short
03:05 stuff, the bend, don't break type model, if you will.
03:08 So again, I think that's really encouraging.
03:11 I think the pass rush was getting after it today.
03:14 A guy like Tano Passignan, look, he's somebody that we tend to not talk about.
03:18 I've been talking about him, because I think he was in for
03:21 such a huge improvement with this defensive line and such.
03:25 But look, he's somebody that's been getting after it.
03:27 I thought Cam Jordan had a really good day.
03:29 I think Jalen Smith probably had his best practice.
03:31 This guy's showing off some major range.
03:34 I think he's somebody that could threaten.
03:36 He's learning the system quickly.
03:37 He's being thrust into a lot of situations.
03:40 I feel pretty good about where he's at right now.
03:42 I think more is to come there.
03:44 We got the win to deal with, so I'm sorry about that if the audio comes through.
03:48 But at any rate, look,
03:50 I think Jalen Smith is somebody that's on the ascension right now.
03:52 I think that you look at players like Carl Granderson,
03:56 improved tremendously in the run support.
04:00 I think that's been huge for him, right?
04:02 And so I think he's probably the guy that starts opposite of Cam.
04:06 Of course, we've got a lot of football to go, but
04:07 I've really liked what I've seen from him, not only as a pass rusher, but
04:10 in run support particularly.
04:12 Brian Berset making some plays on the inside as well.
04:15 Colin Shaunders showing off his athleticism.
04:18 Look, you had some interceptions.
04:20 Ugo Amati had one in seven on seven, picking him off.
04:24 And so I think that was a big play for him, picked off Easton's stick.
04:28 And so Amati's a guy that we talk about sometimes, and
04:32 he's somebody that keeps making some plays.
04:34 I think he's got a spot on this team if he can keep it up.
04:37 He's playing slot, he fields some punts, and
04:39 just as a situational type of thing.
04:42 And so look, I'm encouraged with what he's been able to do.
04:46 We're gonna see more from him, obviously.
04:48 But look, he made some play today.
04:50 Marcus Mayne, look, he's another one.
04:52 I know his future's kinda a little bit cloudy right now because he could end up
04:56 starting the year with a suspension, just depending from that February DUI arrest
05:02 that when he was with the Jets, it was 2021.
05:04 And so we'll see how that kinda plays out.
05:06 But look, he's looking good.
05:08 He's healthy, he's strong in run support.
05:10 He had an interception in the end zone, so
05:12 they worked on a whole bunch of different situations.
05:15 They had end of game situations, so it was 48 seconds on the clock.
05:20 They were starting at the Saints 40, they had to get in the end zone.
05:24 Herbert went two of seven on that drive.
05:26 Easton's stick, I think it was two of six on that drive.
05:28 Of course, you can check Saints News Network for all of the notes,
05:31 the detailed notes, every play, every route, every person in coverage,
05:36 all the tackles, all the goodness.
05:37 It's on saints.media.
05:39 You know this by now if you've been following me, so
05:41 I appreciate all the support as always.
05:43 But May, having that interception, being good in run support,
05:47 I think this is gonna be a better year for the secondary.
05:50 And that's saying a lot because with the Martian injury, I understand.
05:54 Taylor, Alante Taylor and Paulson Nadeba on that side,
05:57 I think they did a phenomenal job today in the coverage.
06:00 Had a couple penalties here and there, illegal contact, PI,
06:03 different things that's gonna happen.
06:05 I think that's something to get used to.
06:06 But I think overall the Saints defense showed from yesterday,
06:10 if people said that Chargers offense won yesterday, Saints defense won the day today.
06:16 And I think that shows a better sign of team that looks at film,
06:21 makes the corrections, adjustments, if you will.
06:23 That's probably a bigger leap for me.
06:25 And the thing is, you gotta remember, these two teams meeting,
06:28 they have the script of what's gonna happen.
06:31 But they're not studying film on each other right now or anything like that.
06:34 This is kinda like, we'll figure out how things go and then make the adjustments.
06:38 And something Tyron Matthew hit on yesterday, I think we saw it today.
06:42 And then on the offensive side, check out Ross Jackson's notes.
06:46 That wasn't what I looked at today, but from what I heard,
06:49 looked like it went pretty well.
06:51 The Chargers fans, that was the side that they were on.
06:54 Didn't hear a lot of cheers today.
06:55 Yesterday was the exact opposite.
06:57 Now, of course, they had the offense over there.
06:58 But look, I think there's a lot that went into it.
07:01 But look, Saints, we'll have to see what happens with Hurricane Hillary.
07:06 I'd never thought I'd be talking about a hurricane threat in California,
07:09 Southern California of all things.
07:12 We don't know anything yet as of Friday afternoon.
07:16 The Saints and Chargers are supposed to have a call with the league
07:20 to find out what's happening.
07:21 And here's the problem.
07:22 So the Rams host the Raiders inside SoFi on Saturday night.
07:27 So if they move the game up Sunday, it's a matter of can they get the field ready
07:30 and everything going operational standpoint to have the Saints move up
07:35 that game, and then maybe we get out of here Sunday before all the weather hits.
07:41 We'll see.
07:42 No official updates yet.
07:43 Probably coming.
07:44 We'll see what happens.
07:46 But that's the big thing.
07:47 I think I've got enough out of these two joint practices for me, personally.
07:52 So if the game happens, great.
07:54 I don't think we'll see a ton of starters.
07:56 As Allen said, if they do have starters, it's probably going to be not as many.
08:00 But I would expect guys like Trevor Penning to probably play,
08:03 Carl Granderson, just not your marquee veterans, if that makes sense.
08:08 I don't think you'll see guys like Derek Carr, Michael Thomas, Chris Lave,
08:13 guys that you're really counting on this year, stuff like that.
08:16 And not that they aren't counting on guys like Trevor or anything like that.
08:19 But I think that you'll see some of these other ones, Ramchick, another example,
08:24 Eric McCoy, probably won't get as much work.
08:26 I think there's more to figure out on the depth chart.
08:29 Linebacker, special teams, offensive line, that was pretty putrid last week
08:35 against the Chiefs, second and third teams.
08:38 I'd like to see that get cleaned up a little bit more.
08:40 But look, we'll see how it plays out.
08:42 We'll see if we have a game.
08:43 No idea yet as of Friday afternoon.
08:46 But things can change really quickly, and the game's gonna play on Sunday.
08:50 So again, we want to thank Justin Burgess of Ben Pro for sponsoring today's show.
08:55 If you have any questions whatsoever, feel free to hit me up on Twitter,
08:58 @johnjhendricks.
08:59 And by the way, just a reminder, if you need tickets to any sporting event,
09:05 be sure to use the code Hendricks on SeatGeek to get $20 off of your first purchase.
09:11 It's a killer deal.
09:12 Preseason action, they got the Texans at home, Saints do next Sunday.
09:17 Good chance to go, I'm just saying.
09:21 So appreciate all the support as always.
09:23 We'll keep you tuned to what's gonna happen with this game.
09:26 I'll be out there assuming everything's good.
09:29 If not, we'll figure it all out on the way.
09:32 So John Hendricks, your Saints News Network, signing off.
09:34 Appreciate you guys as always.