Passing Game the Focus for Saints Thursday

By Ross Jackson

It was a pass-happy practice for the New Orleans Saints on Thursday’s. The team returned to Airline Drive for the second day in a row to continue their prep for Sunday’s matchup with the Tennessee Titans. Quarterback Derek Carr was the standout going nearly perfect on his passing attempts. Both young passers Jake Haener and Spencer Rattler made some big plays. The team also saw some returns and further offensive line shuffles.

The big moment: Carr hits Taysom Hill for a huge screen and run

Media missed the first portion of team drills again today as the move from the outside fields to the indoor facility took place, but we arrived just in time to witness Carr duck and deliver a sidearm throw to Hill who had a host of blockers in front of him. Among them, center Erik McCoy led the way and surely would have laid down a huge block in a live game. That one would have been a big play reminiscent of former quarterback Drew Brees’ dump off to running back Alvin Kamara that turned into a 52-yard scamper for a score in 2020.

Another big play: Rattler finds Kevin Austin Jr. for a deep strike

In the first series of team drills, Rattler threw and completed just one pass. And it was a beauty. After a play-fake, the rookie passer rolled out and let loose a deep pass that perfectly found Austin Jr. who was running a deep post across the middle of the field. Austin Jr. beat cornerback Mac McCain on the rep and walked in for what would have been a 65-yard touchdown.

Attendance:

• Tight end Juwan Johnson made his team drills debut.
• Offensive tackle Taliese Fuaga returned to left tackle in team drills.
• The Saints had some other welcome returns Thursday with cornerback Rico Payton participating in walkthrough and individual drills for the first time since his standout preseason game against the San Francisco 49ers. Fellow undrafted player, wide receiver Mason Tipton, also returned to walkthroughs and individual drills. It does not look likely that either will be ready in time to participate in Sunday’s game, but that overall remains to be seen.
• Not spotted at the practice: Rashid Shaheed, Kendre Miller, Kool-Aid McKinstry, Isaiah Stalbird, Jaylan Ford, Monte Rice, Trajan Jeffcoat, Dallin Holker, Mason Fairchild, and Payton Turner.
• Head coach Dennis Allen said that Turner missed with a “flare up” on his previously existing toe injury. The injury sidelined him for the majority of last year. He also injured the same toe earlier in camp but returned the day after.
• Linebacker D’Marco Jackson left practice early covering a route and going down to a knee for a moment before being escorted out. Allen updated that the injury was a calf injury after practice. Jackson has had a strong camp so far, hopefully this will not derail his progress.
• Cornerback Marshon Lattimore, offensive lineman Nick Saldiveri and defensive lineman Tanoh Kpassagnon were all spotted at varying points throughout practice. Kpassagnon was working on the field as the media arrived. Lattimore briefly walked one of the sidelines during the outdoor portion of practice. Saldiveri watched some team drills inside. 

Team drills – the run period

Before Carr’s connection with Hill detailed above, the Saints had two run plays, one to the left for a modest gain and another by Kamara, whose team drill participation ticked up Thursday.

Haener took the second team reps, starting quickly with a completion to wideout Stanley Morgan Jr. Running back James Robinson took a carry to the right, stopped by defensive lineman Isaiah Foskey. That was followed up by a stretch outside run by back Jordan Mims, who climbed to the second level where he was met by linebacker Khaleke Hudson. Haener then through a nicely located pass to Austin Jr. down the right sidleine off of play action, but the pass was bobbled before eventually being caught out of bounds.

Rattler also hit his highlight through in the first session of team drills. Running back Jacob Kibodi closed the period with a run to the left for a short gain and an outside run to the same side that was halted by newly-acquired cornerback Joejuan Williams.

Team drills 2 – the pressure picks up, and Rattler goes perfect

After a Kamara run to the right, Carr attempted three-straight passes. The first throw was placed well but dropped by tight end Juwan Johnson who made his team drill debut. He was being covered by defensive end Carl Granderson who ended up in a less-than-advantageous situation. Carr then hit Hill again, but time on a slant in the middle of the field. Carr then missed on Johnson while under pressure from cornerback Alontae Taylor. The final play of this session was a sack by defensive tackle Bryan Bresee. The second-year defensive tackle continues his strong camp.

After a run by Robinson to the right, Haener completed one of his three passes in this series. He found tight end Michael Jacobson on a hitch to the right, wide receiver Equanimeous St. Brown was met with contact on the next play at the catch point and could not reel it in and then cornerback Rejzohn Wright made a great play on the next pass to break it up. The pass was intended for wideout Stanley Morgan Jr.

Finally, Rattler rounded out the period going 2-for-2. The first was a hitch to wideout A.T. Perry, who had a strong day. The second was a slant pattern to Morgan Jr. out of the shotgun with playaction. The final play of the series was a big run by Kibodi who had a huge hole opened up in front of him.

Team drill 3 – Haener goes off

While Carr went 4-for-4 in his series, the later performance by Haener was a lot of fun. Carr’s series opened up with a false start on the line. He then completed his next four passes: a crosser to wideout Chris Olave, a slant to Austin Jr., an underneath connection with Johnson and finally a screen to Mims with offensive guard Lucas Patrick leading the way.

Haener though was on top of his game here going 3-for-3. He started by reading through his progression with good composure from the left side of the field to the right. After looking first for Jacobson, who was lined up out wide, he moved on and found Mims on an on-schedule delivery for the back’s angle route. The pass caught him in stride, and he was able to pick up a huge gain after the catch. An impressive play to open the series. Kibodi then had a nice run up the middle, juking a safety to grab some extra yards. Then Haener completed his next two passes: one on another post route and the other down the right seam to Morgan Jr. who looked to be all by himself. That was the play where Jackson, who was giving chance from another area of the field, went down with his injury.

An excellent drive for Haener.

Rattler then went 2-for-2 to continue his perfect day. A nice out route to rookie receiver Bub Means and a comeback to Perry. Kibodi ran left, he but had to bounce it outside where cornerback Kaleb Ford-Dement made the stop.

Team 4 – Willie Gay Jr. makes noise

A perfect 3-for-3 for Carr on this series. He hit wideout Samson Nacua on a slant, then Austin Jr. with a jump ball in the middle of the field contested by linebacker Demario Davis. He finished it up with another completion to Nacua, but the highlight of the play was linebacker Willie Gay Jr. firing in on a blitz that would most certainly have been a sack.

Haener was given another share of reps, but misfired on both passes. He did run a nice keeper to the left side to open the drive. A PBU caused his first incompletion to St. Brown. It was Wright’s second breakup of the day. Fellow corner Shemar Jean-Charles got his hand on the next pass intended for Perry on the sideline. Defensive end Niko Lalos may have had a sack. Kibodi finished the drive with a run up the middle but thanks to rookie defensive tackle Khristian Boyd, there was nowhere for him to go.

Team 5 – Carded session in prep for Tennessee

The Saints again used their final portion of practice to work against looks that they expect to see from the Titans on Sunday. The first play was a sack by Foskey. The team played through the rep with Rattler at quarterback. His pass was eventually broken up by Ford-Dement down the right sideline. Receiver Cedrick Wilson Jr. was the target. This was Rattler’s first incomplete pass.

Carr closed out with a strong 3-for-4 performance. After a run by Kibodi, he missed on his first pass attempt to Moreau, who was crossing the field. The play was broken up by a leaping Davis in the middle of the field. Davis is in mid-season form already. Carr would go on to complete the next four on passes to Perry, Wilson Jr., and Means. All three completions were to the right-intermediate area.

Haener’s final series began with a false start by offensive tackle Oli Udoh who again filtered in for some right tackle snaps with each team. Robinson took a run to the left side off of a toss and then Haener completed his final pass to tight end Mason Fairchild on a hitch to the left.

Rattler finished the day with an incomplete pass to Means after the offensive line seemingly let every pass-rusher through. A lot of pressure on the play from at least three defensive players.

More mixing and matching on the offensive line

The Saints continue to get a look at options along the line:

Right tackle: Trevor Penning and Oli Udoh alternated possessions

Left Guard: Lucas Patrick and Landon Young took snaps at the position with the first team. Patrick also got some work at center. He left practice with cramping issues on Wednesday, he but was able to finish Thursday.

Quarterback stat lines:

Derek Carr: 12-for-14

Spencer Rattler: 5-for-7 and a touchdown

Jake Haener:  6-for-11

Emptying the notebook:

• Linebacker Pete Werner is making progress. He’s around for team drills. Consistent presence, even if limited in participation, is always a good sign for the recovery process.
• Tight end Dallin Holker is continuing to rehab his ankle. The team still believes very highly in the type of player he can develop into. 
• While Johnson was out working on his injury, he would call his position coach to speak weekly about the system, the new offense and more. Barone says that he was consistently engaged and should not have much issue picking up the mental side of the game as he returns to the field. The biggest element will be to get him physically ready.

Demario Davis read his pre-draft scouting report at the podium after practice. Turns out, the linebacker keeps it on his phone and reads it any time that he flips past it.

“Never forget where you came from,” he said.