Day 9

Notes and observations from Day 9 of training camp:

ATTENDANCE: Saints RB Eno Benjamin is believed to have suffered a ruptured Achilles during Saturday’s practice. Coach Dennis Allen said that was the initial diagnosis, pending further analysis. The backup RB fell to the ground during a non-contact drill early in practice and rode a cart back to the locker room after being evaluated by trainers.

Meanwhile, LB Demario Davis and DT Bryan Bresee were held out of practice with calf injuries, and WRs Rashid Shaheed and Tre’Quan Smith left early with groin injuries. Allen said the team is hopeful those are all minor.

OT Trevor Penning, G Cesar Ruiz and S Marcus Maye had scheduled rest days. OLs Andrus Peat and Calvin Throckmorton remained absent with injuries.

DRESS CODE: Pads

Official.🍎: https://t.co/YMT3KpPXs0🤖: https://t.co/t0RJ2SPlDY pic.twitter.com/pk47pZcd2J— NOF (@nofnetwork) August 4, 2023

PERSONNEL ROTATION: Linebacker D’Marco Jackson primarily replaced Davis with the first unit and held up well in coverage against Alvin Kamara and Taysom Hill a couple of times. Fellow linebacker Nephi Sewell also played a session with the 1s next to Pete Werner later in practice. Anfernee Orji saw some increased snaps with the second-team defense.

Rookie Nick Saldiveri played the first snaps with the 1s at right guard during the final team session. He also stayed in and played left guard with the 2s. Earlier in practice, Max Garcia played right guard with the 1s after he had mostly played center with the 2s throughout camp.

Landon Young played left tackle with the 1s but has also played right tackle and guard in camp. He said this camp was the first time he’s ever played guard in his life. But coaches approached him with the idea just before training camp, and so far, they like what they’ve seen in a “the-more-you-can-do” sense.

As for the rest of the first-team offensive line Saturday, it featured Hurst at left guard, McCoy at center and Storm Norton at right tackle.

New Show: Alvin Kamara suspended; Cam Jordan extended + Fan Mailbag📺: https://t.co/Tq2ioT4IkE@pjscoffee | @nofnetwork pic.twitter.com/N2Iv5vsYkK— NOF (@nofnetwork) August 5, 2023

RED ZONE: Red zone is almost always one of the highlights of training camp, and the first glimpse of that work Saturday did not disappoint.

The Saints got to work indoors in a 6-on-7 drill, and Derek Carr really shined. The quarterback connected on all six of his passes with four going for touchdowns. The biggest highlight during the session came when Carr laced a pass up the seam to Chris Olave that dropped into a tight window with Paulson Adebo in coverage.

Another standout moment occurred when Kamara ran an angle route out of the backfield and smoked Zack Baun for a touchdown. Tight ends Foster Moreau and Juwan Johnson scored the other touchdowns.

The Saints did more red zone work outdoors, but it was hard to get a complete picture of what was happening since the team practiced on the far end of the field with a line of players blocking the view. The media is not allowed to move beyond the 50-yard line.

👀 pic.twitter.com/cpXrrvHYC7— New Orleans Saints (@Saints) August 5, 2023

SECONDARY CHANGES: Cornerback Alontae Taylor and rookie safety Jordan Howden saw their roles change slightly today. Howden got some work with the first-team defense playing alongside Tyrann Mathieu.

Howden flashed quite a bit during the summer and looked like someone on the rise. He’s played behind Lonnie Johnson Jr. and Jonathan Abram throughout the start of camp. He has a chance to get some footing and make plays.

Taylor has been playing mostly on the outside throughout camp, where he’s competing with Adebo for the starting position opposite Marshon Lattimore. Taylor hasn’t logged many snaps on the inside since the start of camp after playing there extensively during minicamp and organized team activities. Still, he covered the slot at times during Saturday’s practice.

Bradley Roby and Ugo Amadi have been the primary slot cornerbacks since the start of training camp.

MARSHON vs. MIKE: Mike Thomas finally got the better of Lattimore. Thomas had been blanked all three times during team drills when the two were paired up against one another, but Thomas finally got a win today when he caught a cross route against tight, physical Lattimore coverage.

“All he talks about is ball” - Marcus Maye on Marshon Lattimore pic.twitter.com/a0TwoVJEj5— NOF (@nofnetwork) August 5, 2023

KRULL UP: The Saints will have some difficult decisions to make at tight end. We’ve seen players across the board step up throughout training camp, particularly Johnson, Moreau and Jimmy Graham, with some Hill sprinkled in. But today it was Lucas Krull’s turn to remind everyone of his potential.

Krull made the play of the day when, with J.T. Gray in coverage, he caught a back-shoulder throw from Jake Haener with one hand. He also made another catch in the red zone and another one in team drills.

INSIDE 1-on-1s: There were some really great moments today, namely the matchups between Taylor and Chris Olave. Taylor won his first rep of the day by picking off a pass intended for Olave from Haener. But he lost the second one when Olave got the slightest step on him and made a one-handed catch in the back of the end zone.

Lattimore and Thomas were paired up once during the portion of practice media members could see. Lattimore won that rep.

Tre’Quan Smith lost his first rep of the year when Isaac Yiadom won a rep against him.

Dennis Allen on Alvin Kamara’s suspension pic.twitter.com/4YlLj39KLU— NOF (@nofnetwork) August 5, 2023

OLAVE STANDS OUT: I just need to note that Olave shined throughout the day. Beyond the touchdown in the red zone, he also made a low, shoe-string catch on a pass from Carr. He made at least two other catches during team drills.

Sometimes it’s easy to overlook stars making plays out here because we expect it. But Olave still makes you take notice.

KICKER COMPETITION: Blake Grupe was 6-of-7, with the last one bouncing off the left upright.

PLAY OF THE DAY: Abram had an incredible pass breakup on a ball thrown to Krull in the back of the end zone. The ball was securely in Krull’s hands, but Abram managed to make a late play to knock it away.

PLAY OF THE DAY 2: Amadi intercepted Haener during the red zone period.