Saints Training Camp Day 2: Notes and notables, standout players, play of the day, more

Notes and observations from the second day of training camp.

ATTENDANCE: Two players left practice early with injuries Thursday. Undrafted rookie DE Trajan Jeffcoat got carted off with an elbow injury, and veteran OL Shane Lemieux suffered an ankle injury. The severity of the injuries was not immediately known, but Jeffcoat appeared to be in a great deal of pain as trainers tended to him after he went down during full-team drills.

We also did not see Saints RB Kendre Miller (hamstring) or OT Justin Herron (knee) at practice Thursday after their injuries on Wednesday.

PERSONNEL NOTABLES: With Herron out, the Saints were one man down in the left tackle rotation, so rookie Taliese Fuaga saw extra snaps with the second string in addition to his first-team reps. Landon Young and Oli Udoh took turns as the No. 2 left tackle, with both of them switching back and forth between left and right tackle.

• Just like OTAs and minicamp, the Saints are rotating the backup quarterback position daily. On Wednesday, Jake Haener was with the second team, and Spencer Rattler was with the third team. On Thursday, Rattler was with the second team, and Haener was with the third team.

• One player who has gotten some valuable snaps in full-team drills during each of the first two days of camp is rookie sixth-round defensive tackle Khristian Boyd. Boyd has been paired with Bryan Bresee as the second-string DT duo so far behind starters Nathan Shepherd and Khalen Saunders – which means they have rotated in with both the first-string and second-string defense.

The Saints have only done base formations so far in the first two days of camp, and the 6-2, 320-pound Boyd projects as a nose tackle. So he might be getting more action now than he will in nickel formations. But it's still a valuable exposure to the defense for him early on.

CARR WATCH: Derek Carr finished 4-for-5 with an interception on a catchable pass that was tipped away from receiver Cedrick Wilson and was snagged by a diving Paulson Adebo. One of the more standout moments was a bootleg where Carr rolled out and hit Taysom Hill on a crossing route. He later hit Hill again on an out route, found Chris Olave on a curl, and then had a pass to the flat to Alvin Kamara.

Carr hit on all five of his passes during 7-on-7 drills and looked sharp during the session.

Rattler finished 3-for-3 during 7-on-7s and was 1-for-2 during team drills with a long scramble.

Haener hit on both of his attempts during 7-on-7s and missed both in team drills. One of his attempts got picked off by Roderic Teamer when the safety read a skinny post to Bub Means and jumped it.

SECOND-TEAM COACHING: One interesting thing, although not a huge surprise, is that Andrew Janocko runs the second-team offense when the team splits off on different fields. The quarterbacks coach has worked with offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak at previous stops and has become familiar with this system, which makes him a natural for the role. He also communicates the most with the quarterbacks, which probably makes the play-calling aspect natural and simple.

Talking to various sources around the league, Janocko is someone who is held in high regard and people view him as having upside as a coach. New Orleans has a few of those types on their staff, with Michael Hodges being one on the other side of the ball.

CREATING A MISMATCH: The defense has probably gotten off to a little bit of a faster start than the offense through two days, but we're judging just a handful of first-team reps and you can't really decipher much from such a small snapshot.

But there are small moments that stand out, and one of them came today when the Saints were able to formation and shift their way to a matchup between Olave and second-team linebacker Anfernee Orji. The play went as you'd expect. Olave quickly cut to the outside, left the linebacker in the dust and was wide open.

We discussed the use of heavier personnel groupings last week and how this offensive system's versatility allows it to create and exploit mismatches. Today's play was one of those moments, and there will probably be many more along the way.

RETURN GAME: The Saints are trying out a bunch of different players at kick returner, with Jamaal Williams, James Robinson, Mason Tipton, Jermaine Jackson, Taysom Hill, Jordan Mims, Alontae Taylor and Kool-Aid McKinstry all getting turns at the job. Rashid Shaheed lined up with the group but didn't return one. So, this is a wide-open competition, especially since the job calls for two returners to be on the field.

Thursday's drill featured someone fielding the kick as two defenders crashed down. From this point of view, Taylor was one of the standouts. He looked fast, fluid and decisive. Taylor is incredibly athletic and a fluid mover. No one knows how roles will shape up with the new return rules, but Taylor, for now, is an interesting candidate.

O-LINE JOBS OPEN? So far, the Saints' first-string offensive line has stayed the same throughout OTAs, minicamp, and training camp, with Trevor Penning at right tackle and Nick Saldiveri at left guard.

However, we have now seen Young rotate into the mix with the first team at right tackle and Lucas Patrick rotates into the mix with the first team at left guard during walk-throughs at the beginning of practice for two straight days. So we asked coach Dennis Allen if there is a point where the Saints could start rotating at those spots in team drills – or if he wants to give Penning and Saldiveri a long leash to try and get comfortable in their roles.

"Well, I think it benefits our whole offense when there's some continuity in there. I think when you are mixing and matching every single period, every day, whatever the case may be, I think it becomes a little bit more challenging – in particular at that position, the offensive line position," Allen said.

But Allen did say that he was just talking to some of the other offensive coaches Thursday morning about the current makeup of the o-line depth chart.

"And here's what I need to see. I need to see somebody in the second group that catches my eye enough to say, 'Hey, this guy needs to go run with the ones.' Same with the third group going to the second group," Allen said. "I think we need to see that group of five work together and see what that looks like. But then I also think it's really kind of the player's job to say, 'I deserve to be up there with the ones. And when they prove they're deserving of that, then I think that's the time that we start getting them some reps here."

AGGRESSIVE NATURE: The wide receivers and defensive backs did a one-on-one drill where the receiver tried to get off the line scrimmage and beat a jam. The standouts are the guys you'd expect, especially in more lopsided matchups. Olave and Shaheed proved too quick for most guys, though Adebo had a good rep against Olave.

It was a good setup to see McKinstry in an isolated atmosphere. The rookie didn't win every time, but he is quick to throw a jam and played with a physical nature. Those traits play well in this defense and should make the second-round pick a fit.

McKinstry hasn't been challenged much in team drills, but he looks sound and disciplined. The Saints haven't played any nickel snaps in camp yet, so the evaluation of how the rookie plays inside is yet to begin.

STANDOUT DAY: After practice, Allen praised Pete Werner's early response to the competition the team created at linebacker by bringing in guys like Willie Gay and drafting Jaylan Ford. And there was good reason for the positive comments.

Werner had a great day of practice and was active from start to finish. One of his best plays came when he read a pass to the flat from Carr to Alvin Kamara and stopped the running back dead in his tracks before he could turn up the field.

Werner then came back two plays later and tipped the pass that Wilson should have caught and led to Adebo's interception.

So far, Werner looks like he's ahead of Gay in the competition for the weakside linebacker job. But overall, the depth at linebacker stands out. Khaleke Hudson has looked good, and the team likes Ford.

REAL COMPETITON: There might be a legitimate punter battle. Matthew Hayball has a big leg and hung punts for over 4.7 seconds. He wasn't perfect and shanked one, but he might end up putting some real pressure on Lou Hedley.

Meanwhile, kicker Charlie Smyth made 3-of-4 field goal attempts Thursday after Blake Grupe went 8-of-8 on Day 1.

PLAY OF THE DAY: Nathan Peterman hit a great deep ball to Tipton during 7-on-7 drills with Mac McCain in coverage. The pass went right over the defensive back and found Tipton, who was streaking open, in the back of the end zone.

The rookie wide receiver made a few plays today, and his speed and explosiveness is starting to show a bit.