Saints Sideline Blog

CALIFORNIA DREAMIN

Monday, August 22nd, 2011      Email Print

DATELINE: OXNARD, CA (Weather isn't hot-- but practices will be)

Welcome to the land of palm trees, surfboards and sunsets. Its sure beats the Saints last location which featured several  mis-tackles and missed assignments. Houston--we had a few problems, maybe California will foster some Saints' solutions. A month ago many players never would have thought they'd be here but now sunny California has become the home of the Who Dat's who will spend the next five days practicing in Oxnard, before finishing off its Golden State tour with a date with the Raiders on Sunday night. Sure this portion of Camp Payton may be in a vacation-like setting but this week was never gonna be a vacation---especially after the last preseason game where it appeared several Saints were on vacation.

When this west coast trip was booked, the team never imagined it would be coming off such a horrendous Houston experience but would that matter? Life was never gonna be a beach here anyway. It certainly won't be now especially for the Saints "D." I'm not sure what Gregg Williams said at halftime but i'm guessing you couldn't air it on Nickelodeon. His defense surrendered 323 yards, 19 1st downs and 24 points---in the 1ST HALF! They made Ben Tate look like Emmitt Smith in a mis-tackling clinic its defensive coordinator should have a field day with in these California meeting rooms. Williams saw the warning signs last week in practice where he pulled his starters off to the side for a salty session where he chewed them out for sloppy practice play---quite the foreshadowing.

Sean Payton is one of the few Saints who have had the privilege of training in this part of the country. As Dallas' offensive coordinator, he camped out with the Cowboys here and grew to appreciate how nice it would be for the players and coaches-- a far cry from the Bayou heat and humidity. He organized the trip but for the Saints Head Coach, "going back to Cali" wasn't all about the scenery --its purpose was to maximize a training camp which has been like no other since he hit New Orleans.

The weather is nice but this is a business trip. Drew Brees told me after the Texans game "It will be the most important week of training camp." In a camp which has been the equivalent of cramming for a final or in this case cramming an entire offseason into a month or so of practice---an extra week of Camp Payton will be invaluable. The rookies heads are still spinning, heck even the new Saints like Darren Sproles, Shaun Rogers and Will Herring will benefit greatly from another week of practicing the Saints Way.

Offensively things were somewhat "surf's up." Brees agreed with me that the unit sure took a step forward from its preseason opener where it didn't collect a first down against the Niners in three drives . The Houston game featured a running game which was fantastic as the trifecta of Ingram, Thomas and Sproles gave the Texans fits and should continue to give opponents a little bit of everything along the way. Turnovers though were troublesome. Brees lost a fumble and backup Chase Daniel lost another and threw a costly pick. For all the good, there was plenty of bad leaving Payton to say afterwards, "I'm not happy about anything."

So here in California it promises to be a sunny forecast but the 5 day planner for the black and gold feature plenty of work. These Saints shouldn't let travel get to them--they have proved over the years that they have traveled extremely well. Whether its winning in London or moving camp to Indianapolis to avoid Hurricane Gustav---this team has always been flexible. This time its no natural disaster its merely a horrific preseason game to escape from.We'll see this week if the Saints can rebound and for their efforts look as good as the climate that surrounds them.

AROUND THE CAMPFIRE

JOLTIN JOE---Who would have thought at this point in the preseason undrafted rookie free agent Joseph Morgan would have as many TD's as anybody on the Saints? He is tied with Mark Ingram with two scores and boy has he earned his trips to the endzone. First it was a 78 yard punt return against the Niners and then he caught a 56 yard TD from Chase Daniel. You could see on the sidelines how happy Payton was for Morgan after that play---the rookie is sure making his case to crack an offense with hardly has any room for another rookie.

BEING "FRANK" ON FRANKLIN---More bad news from Houston was the knee injury to DT Aubreyo Franklin. Payton expressed good news that it wasn't a tear but an MCL sprain. That should keep him out the rest of the preseason---but he could be there for the opener against the Packers?

MEACHEM REBOUNDS---After a tough preseason opener where he got hurt and suffered a pair of drops, Robert Meachem rebounded by hauling in the longest reception from Drew Brees. An impressive 43 yard catch where he had to adjust to haul it down. Meachem told me afterwards his back remains sore but its clear he's feeling better than a week ago in more ways than one.

"ITS ON ME"--No excuses from the Saints D after its Texans performance. In fact, Jonathan Vilma shouldered a lot of the blame on himself even though he was one of the leading tacklers. Like Payton this defensive leader took the heat but I'm sure will dispense some of it on the practice field this week.

KEEP IT HERE! Saints fans looking for full coverage of the Who Dat's march thru California---stick with us! We will have daily reports on CST and reports along with blogs on our website of every practice here in Oxnard leading up to the Oakland game and full coverage of the Raider game as well.

NOBODY ASKED ME BUT: Its easy to get high and low watching these preseason games. High on the defense after San Francisco and low after Houston. Remember this though--the 0-16 Detroit Lions were 4-0 in the preseason and while that's an extreme example--remember the "06" Saints that made the NFC Championship Game were an ugly 1-3 in the preseason. Tack on the abnormality of this year's camp---let's don't rush to judgment, many pieces of the puzzle are still yet to be placed.

UNTIL NEXT BLOG,
Mike Nabors
CST

By: Mike Nabors

An Emmy award winning sports reporter who covers a wide variety of events for CST. Primarily, Mike serves as the network's reporter for Saints coverage.

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