Saints Sideline Blog

TEXAS TWO A DAYS

Wednesday, August 19th, 2009      Email Print

DATELINE: HOUSTON, TX, Wednesday August,19th 2009 (Houston...so far no problems!!)
 
By the looks of it, the weather is the same and the tempo is the same but its a different deal this week for the Saints. After having the Texans in Metairie last year it was time for New Orleans to return the favor and practice on their home turf before playing some preseason pigskin on Saturday (by the way a game you can catch on CST with full pre-and post game coverage beginning at 6:30pm). This week is a nice change of pace for the players and coaches and you can't complain about the accomodations, the Texans facility might be without peer in the NFL!
 
These practices surely break up the monotony of camp which is in the "grind" stage for both veterans and rookies alike. WIth THREE AND HALF WEEKS till the season, its good to have more than preseason games to look forward to as the players enjoy the change of scenery and compeition. The Saints enjoyed its experience with the Texans a year ago a lot better than their last visit to Houston back in November of 2007 where turnovers led to a 23 to 10 Texans victory.
 
They say everything is bigger in Texas but for the Saints the practice fields seemed smaller today with more than 160 players sharing 2 practice fields. Early on today, it was nice to see Gregg Williams' defense still aggressively pounce on every loose ball even though they were practicing with another team. It was also nice to see Lance Moore and his shoulder get more and more comfy on the practice field. Another good site was watching  Tracy Porter and his hammy back at it against the Texans where you can only hope he can bounce back like he did with a camp hamstring injury last year.
 
Overall, "hitting somebody besides your guys" works just fine for Sean Payton's guys who plan on making the most of their week in Texas.A week to test out your progress against another NFL team which should make things interesting this weekend and make you better down the road. With camp almost at its halfway point, the teams need something different and getting a Texas two step in for a few days will help this team keep sidestepping all the doldrums that come with their toughest month of the year.
 
 
AROUND THE CAMPFIRE
 
BREES OUT: Drew Brees missed the morning workout as he is still dealing with the passing of his Mom. Sean Payton expects him to be back for the PM workout here in Houston.
 
SIR CHARLES OUT: Charles Grant and his hammy sat out the morning workout with Paul Spicer running with the 1's.
 
VILMA-FIED: Great game Saturday for Jonathan VIlma but his teammates are having fun with his conditioning. VIlma ran out of gas after an interception versus the Benglas nullifying a "pick six" where he acknowledged his teammates have had fun with him this week.
 
RUNNING IN PLACE: Pierre Thomas is running harder this camp and it seems to be a trend in his position group. Thomas says the RB's have made it a point to step up their game after last season when he admitted the unit struggled especially in short yardage situations. Pierre says he has noticed a stronger burst from Reggie Bush already.
 
LOCAL BOY MADE GOOD: Not many New Orleans connections on the Texans with the exception of WR Jacoby Jones. The New Orleans native made it to the NFL from tiny Lane College out of Jackson, TN. Jones tells me he grew up a big Saints fans where Joe Horn was his favorite player.
 
MILLER TIME: Tight End Billy Miller is still nursing a knee injury but will forever be a part of Houston History. He scored the "first" ever Texans Touchdowns in its first game against Dallas which they won.
 
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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