Saints Sideline Blog

THE BAND IS BACK TOGETHER

Friday, August 5th, 2011      Email Print

(brought to you by Capital One Bank and Louisiana Cat)

DATELINE: Metairie, LA 8/5/11 (The unofficial start of Training Camp....)

Last weekend Sean Payton gave them Shirley Temples, a few days later he delivered his free agent friends a two hour plus practice. Thanks to the newly ratified collective bargaining agreement which was unanimously approved----the feeling was unanimous among these Saints, it was good to be a team again. Sure training camp started on paper a week ago but the official start was Thursday, where all the unsigned Saints were off the sidelines and finally given a hall pass to attend Payton 101.

One of true signs that camp is officially kicking is what's becoming a popular Gregg WIlliams tradition. Popular if you are watching it more than partaking. WIlliams likes to welcome his guys back with 40 up/downs. To the football layman this is where you lunge your whole body all the way down to the ground and then all the way back up. The Saints defenders who did this a week ago THROUGHLY enjoyed watching their teammates do this a week later. Nobody is immune, not even Pro Bowl and newly multi millionaire Roman Harper who equated this exercise to "paying a fee to get into a club." Any future newbie defenders will have to do the drill by themselves in the coming weeks---tis the Williams way.

On offense things were back to normal. Lance Moore was catching passes again and Jemon Bushrod made sure for the first time this camp a rookie free agent wasn't protecting Brees' blindside. Pierre Thomas said the practice "had a great vibe." A great vibe but a different one as the untrained Saints eye is still getting used to #25 being safety Paul Oliver instead of some guy named Reggie. Bush is gone but brand new #43 Darren Sproles carried on the tradition of speed as he was running wild inside the indoor facility on special teams and playing catch with his former Charger QB. The former west coast star admitted the Saints practice was different in its pace. It was clear the smiling Sproles was happy to be practicing again.

Defensively you had a few new looks . Linebacker Will Herring (#53 by the way) took some reps with the 1st team and then you have the defensive line. Its hard to miss Shaun Rogers (#92) but the newest Saint in the trenches is (#99) Aubrayo Franklin who black and gold fans can only hope plays like another 99-Warren Sapp. Franklin told us afterwards it was great to be on board with a contender where the former Niner knew he had options in free agency but the Saints came in late and were a welcome surprise. Having Aubrayo aboard gives this d-line depth and talent that is far superior than a year ago where he, Sedrick Ellis, Rogers and rookie Cameron Jordan (#94) can all rotate on the interior of the line.

Other interesting angles at this workout were on the offensive line. With Jonathan Goodwin trading places with Franklin in San Francisco, Matt could be the lead Tennant to take over the starting center spot but expect the team to bring in some veteran competition. Right now Tennant's backup is Cam Newton's older brother Cecil ( who wears #75 along with reserve DT Mitch King) Notable newbies on the Saints offensive line include tackles and former 1st round picks (#69) George Foster and (#72) Alex Barron whom Payton is hopeful can both compete for playing time.

So the roster is heavy and confusing but its good to see the band back together. With this veteran Saints team you have a good feel for the starters but the next month will provide competition at the linebacker and offensive line spots. Hard to believe we're nearly at the end of the first week of August for the first "full squad" workout but the good new for New Orleans--everybody else is in the same boat.

AROUND THE CAMPFIRE

HAMILTON CUT: Running Back Lynell Hamilton was cut on Thursday. A move Sean Payton called "Probably one of the most difficult decisions of waiving a player that I've gone through." He acknowledged Hamilton was his kind of guy--a hard worker who has battled injuries to come back and look good early in camp. The Saints did him a favor though as this will now give him an opportunity to catch on a team where he will have a chance to play.

INGRAM IMPRESSIVE: Mark Ingram may not have had mini-camp's or OTA's but he has looked rock solid in his first week where he hasn't backed off running full speed at his veteran defenders. He will be fun to watch when these preseason games roll around.

HERE'S TO YOU MR ROBINSON: Last year's first round pick Patrick Robinson was rode pretty hard last season but has seemed to taken a few steps forward this camp. The second year DB out of FSU seems to make a few plays each practice and will add depth to a talented Saints secondary.

GOOD BYE GOODY: The Saints would have loved to kept popular center Jonathan Goodwin but chalk it up as the one free agent fish that got away. Sean Payton called him a very intelligent player while Brees added, "I can't say enough about how much he meant to this team."

QB GAMES: Brees and Chase Daniel love to push each other in practice. They have a number of games they like to play---one in the indoor facility is throwing the football into certain areas near the roof---I saw Brees nail his target yesterday.

NOBODY ASKED ME BUT: I have been surprised at the restraint of the coaching staff given the landscape of this post lockout practice regime. Sean Payton hasn't seemed annoyed at the lack of two a day practices and Gregg WIlliams to my surprise told me recently that when he was the Head Coach of the Bills that he actually petitioned the league to abolish two a days. When I first learned of the new rules--I expected much different reactions. Times are different in this new NFL and with this franchise. The team Payton inherited in 2006 needed a tone-setting camp under the Jackson, MS heat but this veteran bunch has proved to him via Camp Brees/Vilma at Tulane that they are self sufficient.

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.

Post Comment | Read Comments (0)