Practice observations: Saints defense dominates during high-intensity practice

Notes and observations from Saints practice No. 15:

ATTENDANCE: WR Tre’Quan Smith, WR Mike Thomas, WR Rashid Shaheed, RB Kendre Miller, RB Kirk Merritt, OT Landon Young, G Andrus Peat, TE Jesse James, TE Lucas Krull and DE Cam Jordan were not at Tuesday's practice.

Thomas was said to have a veteran rest day. Coach Dennis Allen expects the receiver to participate fully during joint practices against the Chargers in Los Angeles.

G Cesar Ruiz and TE Taysom Hill left practice early with what Allen called minor injuries.

Strained oblique for Taysom HillShoulder injury for Ruiz.Both left early— Nick Underhill (@nick_underhill) August 15, 2023

DEFENSIVE DOMINANCE: The defense once again had the offense’s number throughout most of practice. The team drilled some red zone situations, and the defense broke up three of the first four attempts.

On one of them, S Tyrann Mathieu knocked away a pass from running back Jamaal Williams before the running back could score. S Jonathan Abram then broke up a pass to Williams on the next play by crashing down on a screen.

After a switch at quarterback, CB Isaac Yiadom continued the trend by breaking up a pass to rookie receiver A.T. Perry.

Things then continued with quarterback Derek Carr throwing incomplete to wide receiver Chris Olave followed by cornerback Marshon Lattimore delivering an incredible broken-up pass when he pinned himself between Juwan Johnson and the pylon.

2-MINUTE DRILL: The first-team defense probably won against the first-team offense during a 2-minute drill to close out practice. Carr eventually found Johnson in the back of the end zone, but DT Nathan Shepherd was in the backfield before the pass came out.

Carr looked solid during this period, though. What was most interesting is that he had his bread-and-butter weapons on the drive. He connected with Alvin Kamara twice and also hit Johnson twice, including once up the seam.

Perry also made a big catch on third down when he pulled in a slant to keep the drive alive.

New Orleans then went for a 2-point conversion and Kamara ran it in. He capped the celebration by doing a 360-dunk through the uprights, then dapping up Jimmy Graham on the sideline.

CantGuardDerek pic.twitter.com/nyrD3UliUJ— NOF (@nofnetwork) August 15, 2023

BIG ROLE: One of the things that stood out today was that rookie safety Jordan Howden played deep safety in dime packages with Mathieu and Marcus Maye working underneath. If Howden can play that role, it would allow New Orleans to have two dynamic playmakers on the field, making plays underneath.

The fallout: Saints get decent news on Kendre Miller, land insurance policy in Darrel Williams; Kamara ‘happy, happy, happy' about receiving role; Erik McCoy a ‘driving’ force https://t.co/uXRTHGfTc7— Mike Triplett (@MikeTriplett) August 14, 2023

SMITH REVIEW: New Saints linebacker Jaylon Smith got some first-team reps with Davis sidelined due to injury. Smith will need some time to get his legs underneath him. He got beat on a handful of passes but came back at the end of practice and broke one up to Ellis Merriweather.

Zack Baun made a handful of good plays, too. Baun needs to keep flashing to get snaps.

Rookie RB Ellis Merriweather taking in the game from AK pic.twitter.com/LCN4cfQ5bR— NOF (@nofnetwork) August 15, 2023