Day 13

Notes and observations from Day 13 of Saints training camp:

ATTENDANCE: Saints LB Demario Davis (calf), G Andrus Peat (quad), WRs Rashid Shaheed (groin) and Tre’Quan Smith (groin), TEs Lucas Krull (tailbone) and Jesse James (groin) did not participate in Thursday's practice. RB Kirk Merritt left early with hamstring tightness — the same hamstring that was bothering him the other day, according to coach Dennis Allen. S Lonnie Johnson Jr. banged knees and had some cramping, but Allen said they don’t anticipate it’s a serious injury.

Meanwhile, DE Cameron Jordan and S Tyrann Mathieu had veteran rest days. RT Ryan Ramczyk's workload was limited. LB Nephi Sewell, S Jordan Howden and RT Storm Norton were among those who received increased reps with the starting units as replacements.

Howden and Sewell have both seen a big uptick in high-value snaps over the past week, a good sign of their progress and opportunity heading into Sunday's preseason opener. Sewell worked with the first unit alongside Pete Werner in all three team sessions Thursday.

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

MAKING IT COUNT: Smoke Monday is making his case for a roster spot with a strong start to training camp. The safety has a nose for the ball and showed it again by intercepting a Jameis Winston pass. But that wasn’t the last of the noise he made. Monday nearly intercepted another pass later in practice.

Monday is consistently around the ball and making plays. If that translates into the preseason, the decisions at safety are going to be incredibly difficult. The depth at that position stands out.

1-ON-1 HIGHLIGHT: One of the better moments during 1-on-1s came when Mike Thomas called over Marshon Lattimore to come match up against him. Thomas proceeded to win by beating Lattimore at his break on a slant.

They paired up a second time, and Lattimore looked to win the play, though there was some holding on it near the end.

Thomas was only targeted once during team drills and had the pass knocked from his hands by Alontae Taylor.

Dennis Allen on Chris Olave’s improvement pic.twitter.com/ptdsTIaHhA— NOF (@nofnetwork) August 10, 2023

SPEAKING OF TAYLOR: The second-year cornerback is starting to string together some nice practices and has produced a handful of highlights. The cornerback tallied a great broken up pass on a throw to Chris Olave during 1-on-1s.

The battle for the second cornerback spot remains wide open, with Taylor and Paulson Adebo both making strong cases. The slot cornerback job looks like it is Bradley Roby’s to lose, even though Taylor has taken some reps at that spot with the third-string defense.

Saints haven’t changed their philosophy about being big and athletic up front on defense, but Dennis Allen said “there was a little emphasis on our part, ‘Hey, maybe we’ve gotten just a little too big.’”The tweaks have been hard to miss. https://t.co/zxFJvuLBDO— Mike Triplett (@MikeTriplett) August 9, 2023

DEFENSIVE LINE FLASHES: There were some great moments from the defensive line today, especially when Carl Granderson and Bryan Bresee recorded sacks of Winston on back-to-back plays. Payton Turner also sacked Winston earlier in the practice.

Rookie Jerron Cage got into the mix when he intercepted a Jake Haener pass that was tipped up by Kendre Miller.

Many players delivered solid moments in run defense, but none stood out more than when Malcolm Roach blew through the offensive line and stuffed Miller in the backfield during a running period.

Roach was a camp and preseason standout last year, but it looks like he’s upped his game and continues to ascend.

PLAY OF THE DAY: Roby recorded a great pass break up during 7-on-7s on a throw intended for Lynn Bowden Jr. near the goal line. The play would have been impressive on its own, as Roby stretched out to deny the pass, but it was even more so considering the snap lasted every bit of 5 seconds, if not longer. The fact that Roby was able to stay with his mark that long was impressive.

PLAY OF THE DAY 2: WR Bryan Edwards made an incredible catch on a fade over Isaac Yiadom on a pass from Winston. Edwards had a strong day overall, making several plays.

PLAY OF THE DAY 3: TE Foster Moreau had an outstanding moment late in practice when he caught a one-handed pass on the sideline on a throw from Haener with Ty Summers providing tight coverage.