First round draft pick cornerback Malcolm Jenkins is officially a member of the New Orleans Saints. The Ohio State product coming to terms on a deal Sunday and is expected to be at practice on Monday.

Jenkins holdout lasted 10 days, the longest by a Saints rookie in 10 years. The 14th overall pick has missed 14 practices and will have to play catchup.

Gus K

Rain forced the Black and Gold Scrimmage indoors on Saturday and in all it was a solid performance. The defense once again performed well picking up four sacks and forcing four turnovers.

Quarterback Drew Brees did not play. Brees left town late Friday due to a familiar matter and may or may not be back by Monday when the team returns to the practice fields.

DEFENSE SHINES

The defense as a whole had a solid day with four sacks. DE Charles Grant, S Chris Reis, DE Anthony Hargrove, and S Roman Harper got to the quarterback.

There also were four turnovers. LB Mark Simoneau picks up a fumble by RB Mike Bell in the scrimmage’s first opening drive. S Roman Harper picked off a deep pass from QB Joey Harrington, and CB Jason David made a nice diving interception for another pick. DE Jeff Charleston recovered a high snap.

“I’m anxious to look a the tape. It’s a two fold deal when you ask the head coach. When you put it on the ground your disappointed offensively, you took it away defensively it’s a positive,” Payton said of the turnovers. “The fumble by Mike Bell was discouraging because it looked like he didn’t have it put away cleanly, but I did think we made some plays on the ball defensively which is encouraging.”

COLSTON SHINES

Receiver Marques Colston played like it was a regular season game. Steady and every bit as a go-to receiver as he provides when the games count. Colston had six catches in the first two drives.

“We’ve been busting our butts since training camp opened and we’re starting to get into that groove and into that rhythm,” Colston said of the way the first unit played. The fourth year receiver played in just 11 games last season due to injuries but this camp has shown he could be on par for a 2007 season where he played in 16 games, snagged 11 touchdowns and had 1,202 yards receiving.

Colston also caught a 1-yard touchdown during the 2^nd drive of the scrimmage. Practice game or not, it’s always nice to get a score, “You just want to make as many big plays as you can. That’s what the receiving group is out here to do,” says Colston.

BRUNELL RUNS FIRST UNIT WELL

QB Mark Brunell was very efficient when running the starting unit in place of Drew Brees. “I think for the most part the coaches will be pleased. We made some mistakes but we did some good things, we got the ball down the field,” Brunell said of the overall performance of the offense. “I thought we ran the ball real well. We’ll look at the film, make corrections and build on what we did today, but I thought it was a pretty good scrimmage.”

Brunell was four of four on the opening drive, prior to a Mike Bell fumble, hitting Colston twice. On the second drive, Brunell went four of five, finding Colston on all of his completions including the last one, a 1-yard TD toss.

“I’m smart. Throw to the big guy that can catch,” said a laughing Brunell of why Colston was getting all the passes. “It was in the progressions he was the guy we needed to go to based on the coverages that we saw. I just think it happened to work out that way.”

HELD OUT

Head coach Sean Payton held out the following players as either a precaution of due to injuries being nursed.

RB Reggie Bush, WR Lance Moore, CB Randall Gay, S Darren Sharper, WR Adrian Arrington, TE Dan Campbell, S Chip Vaughn.

Vaughn of the list has would could be the more serious of the injuries. “He’s got a little meniscus tear. It’s not real big and yet it’s caused some swelling and knee pain and we’ll have to examine it further,” said Payton after practice of Vaughn’s left knee.

BUMPS AND BRUISES

The scrimmage caused a few players to get nicked up, the most serious happening to LB Mark Simoneau. Simoneau suffered a right elbow injury and after getting it looked at by trainers, had his elbow wrapped heavily with ice.

CB Jason David received a pop to his right should while making a tackle, forcing him to the sideline for a few plays. David later returned to the field, later making an interception.

A diving S Roman Harper ran into CB Jabari Greer on his pick, and looked to have hit Greer’s wrist area with his helmet on the play. Greer did not miss action

CB Tracy Porter injured his right hamstring and was seen with bag of ice taped to the back part of his right leg after practice.

NIX SEES TIME AT LEFT TACKLE

Left tackle Carl Nicks took some snaps at left tackle towards the end of practice. “When you go to the game and you’re dressing seven or eight offensive lineman you got to have a couple of guys that can swing,” Payton said of his second year tackle who became the starter midseason a year ago. “He’s played left tackle in college so we took probably about five snaps worth, maybe a little bit more, so we’ll see how did on film.”

TIME OFF

The Saints will have only meetings Sunday and return to practice on Monday with a pair of scheduled workouts. Friday night the team opens up their preseason schedule as they host Cincinnati in the Superdome.

Another story from Gus K !

The Saints wrapped up their morning workout and perhaps the combination of the heat, and having gone now through a full week of camp, practice at times was sluggish. The referees in camp through Saturday’s Black and Gold Scrimmage at times were littering the field with yellow hankies.

The afternoon practice was just a walkthrough as the team worked without pads. Practice lasted just an hour and ended with a bit of fun. Head coach Sean Payton had a pair of ball boys race, with players forming two lines on either side siding with who they thought would win. The winning bunch would get an extra half hour of bed check time at a later date.

BLACK AND GOLD SCRIMMAGE

The scrimmage will be held at the training facility and is closed to the public. It essentially is a similar training camp practice with a few more team drills involved.

Payton said the following players will be held out of the scrimmage: RB Reggie Bush, S Darren Sharper, WR Lance Moore, WR Adrian Arrington, TE Dave Campbell, and CB Randall Gay

BUMPS AND BRUISES

Safety Darren Shaper did not practice due to a bruise behind his left knee.

Linebacker Scott Fujita was absent on Friday due to a funeral

Left tackle Jammal Brown walked off the field with a trainer just prior to the end of the morning practice. Brown according to Payton was suffering from a stomach ailment, he did workout in the afternoon.

RB Reggie Bush did not practice although he was in full pads like the rest of the team. Bush observed team and individual position drill in his gear. Since the start of camp, head coach Sean Payton has said that on days where two practices were scheduled, Bush likely would only go once. The Saints running back is coming back from season ending knee surgery last season.  Bush did work in the afternoon.

HARRINGTON CATCHING ON

Quarterback Joey Harrington said when the Saints signed him mid season a year ago, that his number one goal was to come in and be a student of the game. Harrington was the 3^rd overall pick of the first round by the Detroit Lions in 2002. During his tenure in Detroit Harrington started 55 games with a record of 18 wins and 37 losses. A trade to Miami in 2006, then a year later a trade to the Falcons and Harrington had turned from high draft pick to journeyman.

Perhaps the pressures of being selected at the top or the bouncing around from team to team, whatever the reason, Harrington has said he’d like to just be a back up for a while and learn how to play quarterback in the NFL. Something Head coach Sean Payton has always prided himself in is in grooming quarterbacks.

Harrington has started to pick it up as far as this training camp goes. This morning was perhaps his best practice, looking sharp, delivering the ball crisply and accurately. Harrington worked some with the second unit and in seven on seven drills threw three touchdown passes.

“I felt good. There is a lot of stuff in this offense that I need to learn I mean to be frank,” Harrington said Friday morning. “There’s a lot of detail in this offense, a lot of checks, a lot of things you need to be comfortable with pre-snap before you can even get the ball down the field. 

Harrington, who is 6’4 210 pounds, does have the size and arm strength. At times the problem is putting the mental aspect of the game together with his physical abilities.

“I finally feel like I’m starting to get to that point where I’m understanding the stuff that’s going on prior to the snap there for I’m able to really focus on making my reads and making my throws and I feel a lot more comfortable with that,” says Harrington.

“You need to be confident number one and then you need to be comfortable.  People talk about when the game slows down, that’s when the game slows down. It’s when you feel totally comfortable out there, and I’m not saying I’m feeling totally comfortable but I’m getting to the point where I’m starting to understand the intricate details that they’ve installed.”

Mark Brunell backed up Brees this season and Payton has said the back up role is open heading into training camp. Does Harrington feel he can make enough strides to secure the back up role?

“Not worried about it. Not worried about, I’m worried about learning the offense. When you worry about the result you stop focusing on what it takes to get there,” Harrington says. “If I sit there and worry about you know whether or not I’m going to be number I’m not going to take care of what I need to do in order to get to that position.

The things I need to do are go home and study, watch the film, come out there and apply what I’ve learned on the practice field and I feel like I’ve done a pretty good job of that so far.”

Another story from Gus !

A nice breezy afternoon welcomed Saints fans as they watched their Black and Gold undergo the day’s lone practice. It was one of the better days of camp for the Saints offense and once again the defense showed they continue to improve.

 “I thought over all it was a pretty physical practice. I was pleased,” head coach Sean Payton said after workout concluded. “Both sides of the ball did a good job responded. I thought we handed the heat pretty well.”

“It was kind of back and forth. I thought Drew did some good things. I thought we caught the ball. I thought we blocked up front pretty well in the pass drills. I thought the defense played real well in the run drill, you know the full contact period we had. I though defensively we did a real good job. I thought it was a physical practice.”

A trio of officials from the Big 12, CUSA, and NFL refereed the practice and will be in town through Saturday’s Black and Gold game.

BREES IMPRESSIVE

The Saints defense controlled the line of scrimmage most of the time the offense attempted to run the football. CB Usama Young made a nice open field tackle on a sweep Reggie Bush, wrapping him up by the ankles.

When it came time to passing the football, quarterback Drew Brees put on a clinic especially during one team period going three for three, tossing amazingly accurate passes. WR Marques Colston snagged a pass thrown in between LB Scott Shanle and CB Tracy Porter for a first down. Two plays later, Brees hit Colston throwing to his back shoulder just past the first down marker with CB Jabari Greer draped all over him for the completion. On the next play, Brees pumped left and then threw deep for a streaking Robert Meachem who made a great catch for an 80-yard touchdown.

“He’s just a perfectionist and that comes out in his play. He’s a guy that works extremely hard,” said Colston after practice of how he’s come to expect the steadiness of Brees’s arm. “That’s the one thing that Drew is really great at is putting the ball in a position where only his guy can get it. You know he’ll throw it in some tight coverage every now and again, but his guys are the only ones that can make a play on the ball.”

GRUDEN IMPRESSED

Former Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach and new Monday Night Football analyst Jon Gruden was out on the practice fields observing Payton’s Saints. Gruden into through Friday was brought in to talk to the team and sit in on some meetings to provide his insight.

One of those meetings lasted three hours with Payton and quarterback Drew Brees, a player Gruden said after practice, was someone he couldn’t wait to see practice. “Brees had a chance to sit in on a meeting today. We met for about three hours at lunch time just going over and talking football,” Payton said of some of the things the former Bucs coach did on Thursday.

“What people don’t see is Drew Brees behind the scenes. He is on top of things as you can imagine. This is very important to him, every snap, the outcome of every play,” Gruden said of the Saints starting quarterback. “He is a great competitor. Fearless guy and he’s a tremendous leader. You couple that with his talent and his instinctiveness, and the fact that he’s a lot better athlete then people think you have what you have, a superstar quarterback.”

Gruden who answered some questions from media after practice, believes the Saints have a chance to make some noise this season thanks to Brees and the additions made in the offseason.

BUMBS AND BRUISES

RB Mike Bell suffered a bruised hip in the practice but isn’t expected to miss much time if any according to Payton. “I think he’s going to be fine. We’ll take a look at him, thought he had a pretty good practice.”

WR Adrian Arrington was full go. The receiver had been limited the last couple of days as he recovers from a hamstring injury.

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Bush’s knee and skirmish highlight Day 6

It was an interesting day at Training Camp for the Saints. The Black and Gold worked under a cloudless sky and humid conditions in the morning, with the team getting a break with a scheduled practice indoors in the afternoon.

Running back Reggie Bush caused a stir locally and nationally by having an ice bag taped to his left knee in the morning workout, causing a number of reporters to speculate something was wrong with his knee.

In the afternoon, another skirmish broke out on the last play of practice again involving a large number of players. Due to the amount of bodies forming a massive circle it was impossible to tell who started it or was involved. After it appeared the extra curricular activities ended, round two broke out a feet away prompting another grouping of players. Coaches then had had enough and blew the air horn twice ending it.

“I’d be hard pressed to even begin to comment on how it started and how it ended up. They figured it out finally when we hit the horn and we ran a little extra,” Saints head coach Sean Payton said following practice who sat the team down on one knee and had some words of wisdom for his players. “I just don’t want to get someone hurt here in an important part of the year as we’re evaluating these guys and stop progress over something like that. I understand skirmishes will break out occasionally. I don’t want to really see them escalate but we’ll handle it.”

BUSH SHOWS KNEE IS FINEA day after having one of his better practices of training camp, Saints running back Reggie Bush missed Wednesday morning’s workout due to swelling in his left knee.

“Obviously it’s going to be a little sore after a practice like that. I’m still just getting back into the swing of things you know getting back used to the work load and the long practices and strenuous work that I’m putting on it. That’s really it,” Bush said following the end of practice.

Bush came out in shoulder pads with the rest of his teammates but went back inside shortly after, reemerging with a bag of ice taped to his left knee. Saints head coach Sean Payton told media at the start of camp that on two a day’s, Bush likely would only practice in one of the workouts as a precaution. Back in December, Bush underwent surgery to repair cartilage and insists this is just what happens when you come back from that type of injury.

 “It’s not frustrating at all it’s just more of a maintenance thing. Its kind of the schedule we’ve decided right now so. It’s not frustrating at all it’s just the protocol right now.”

The recent swelling did however warrant the team to make sure the knee is okay, having Bush undergo an MRI three days ago. “We did an MRI a few days ago actually and everything came back great. It looked good and really now it’s just about getting myself back to football shape and getting my knee back used to carrying the load again.”

Payton like Bush says he isn’t worried and if a game had to be played today, Bush would be in that number. The proof was in the pudding as Bush did practice in the afternoon and had another good practice, busting out a couple of nice runs up the middle.

Bush had some fun with all the earlier media reports about his knee possibly being hurt worse than being reported. At the start of the afternoon workout, Bush walked up to reports and grabbed his knee saying “oh my knee, oh my knee.”

HERE’S CHUCKY

Former Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach and now Monday Night Football analyst John Gruden is at Saints Camp at the request of Payton. Gruden hired Payton as the quarterbacks coach while Gruden was the offensive coordinator in Philadelphia. “He’s been a huge influence on my life coaching offensive football. He’s probably one of the best coaches I’ve been around. To this day some of the roots of what we do started from what I learned in those early years in Philadelphia with him,” Payton said Wednesday.

Gruden will spend time in meetings talking about offensive theory and philosophy. Payton said he’d talk to the team and spend time with the quarterbacks, as well as observe practice through Friday.

“He spends a ton of time on football. He loves it. If you’re around him for just a few minutes you’ll get that sense.”

BUMPS AND BRUISES

CB Randall Gay will miss the next three to four days due an inflamed left Achilles tendon. Gay suffered the injury in the morning workout and an MRI revealed the inflammation.

TE Dan Campbell again missed practice with an injured knee.

WR Adrian Arrington again was limited for the day.

A day after having one of his better practices of training camp, Saints running back Reggie Bush missed Wednesday morning’s workout due to swelling in his left knee. “Obviously it’s going to be a little sore after a practice like that. I’m still just getting back into the swing of things you know getting back used to the work load and the long practices and strenuous work that I’m putting on it. That’s really it,” Bush said following the end of practice

Bush came out in shoulder pads with the rest of his teammates but went back inside shortly after, reemerging with a bag of ice taped to his left knee. Saints head coach Sean Payton told media at the start of camp that on two a day’s, Bush likely would only practice in one of the workouts as a precaution. Back in December, Bush underwent surgery to repair cartilage and insists this is just what happens when you come back from that type of injury.

The recent swelling did however warrant the team to make sure the knee is okay, having Bush undergo an MRI three days ago. “We did an MRI a few days ago actually and everything came back great. It looked good and really now it’s just about getting myself back to football shape and getting my knee back used to carrying the load again.”Payton like Bush says he isn’t worried and if a game had to be played today, Bush would be in that number. The Saints have an afternoon practice left and Bush said he expects to participate.

Another story from Gus ! –  Thanks Gus, great work !

Defensive backs rule the day at Saints Camp

Cloudy skies helped the team and fans, who at one point started the “Who Dat” chant, enjoy a nice morning practice, while the afternoon workout again was held indoors. While both practices where not as physical as the previous few, the defense once again was the story of the day.

Saints defensive backs had five interceptions, three off of QB Drew Brees. Three picks came in the morning, two by rookie CB Danny Gorrer. Free agent pick up Jabari Greer had the third pick, stepping in front of a Brees pass towards the end of practice. Four plays earlier CB Jason David dropped an interception, two plays before that, Greer bobbled another would be pick. Defensive Coordinator Gregg Williams spiked his laminated play list and pen in anger after the Greer dropped interception getting a rousing applause from the fans.

The afternoon practice was more of the same. CB Randall Gay stepped in front of a Brees pass and picked it off in the first set of full team drills. As practice was wrapping up, CB Tracy Porter made a great snag to pick off Brees.

“It was something else,” head coach Sean Payton said of Porter’s pick. “It was low and away. It was kind of an odd ball location and he (Porter) did a great job of getting it in his hands.”

The offense had its moments on Monday with a couple of good runs and a few nice grabs by Saints receiver’s, but again it almost seems as if the defense is having fun playing the part of the aggressor. “I thought this p.m. practice offensively we did some things that was encouraging. In the a.m. the defense really got the better of us,” Payton said following the afternoon workout. “By in large it was a good day. I thought we got a lot done.

“You got to look out. There are a lot of people getting busted up a little bit. I had a little blood in my mouth this morning. It’s a good pace, fanatical pace and I like it,” said safety Roman Harper of the aggressive defense thus far in camp. “It’s up-tempo, upbeat and we’re making coach Payton and those guys defend themselves a little bit.”

AT’A BOYS

CB’s Danny Gorrer, Jabari Greer, Randall Gay and Tracy Porter had interceptions.

DE Charles Grant is having a good camp. Grant has shed some weight and is playing quicker. Monday, Grant’s rush routinely forced quarterbacks to threw earlier than they would have liked, and on one play Grant dropped RB Pierre Thomas just as he caught a toss from Brees on a running play.

CB Jason David continues to play well. David had a few more pass blocks on Monday and a missed chance at an interception. In all, David appears to be WAY more comfortable in Williams’ defense and has constantly been around the ball.

TE Jeremy Shockey perhaps made his best catch of training camp since becoming a Saint. Shockey released from the left side and ran up along the left sideline. Brees, while under pressure, threw a ridiculous pass that was just above LB Scott Shanle’s right shoulder pad who was facing the tight end, drapped all over him. The pas was just high enough for Shockey’s hands to snag and secure it as both players tumbled to the ground a good 30 yards down field.  

RB Mike Bell continues to make a push for playing time come the regular season. Bell runs hard and has shown not only power but also an ability to make a cut or two. In the afternoon practice, Bell took a right swing pass and turned up field. Ten yards into the run he mad a cut back towards the middle of the field threw drew “ooohs” from teammates watching the play.

What was Bell’s reward for breaking into the open field? Getting planted on his rear end by cornerback Leigh Torrence who came flying in to make the hit. Torrence’s hit drew “ooohs” as well from teammates on the play.

BUMPS AND BRUISES

Running Back Reggie Bush returned to practice and had a good practice. There were no visible signs that his left knee was bothering him at all as he looked quick in his cuts and showed good speed in both the running and passing game.

Linebacker Jo-Lonn Dunbar sat out again nursing a hamstring injury. Wide Receiver Adrian Arrington seems to have recovered from his hamstring injury as he practiced in the morning and afternoon on Monday.

More news from GusKattengel !    Thanks Gus for keeping us informed !

Defense rules again; Bush shows temper

The Saints wrapped up the weekend with just a single afternoon practice indoors thanks to yet another lunchtime rain shower. Once again the indoor work was spirited as the intensity level seen the last two days in team drills spilled over to one on one work.

BUSH FIESTY

The new aggressive, win on every play mentality defensive coordinator Gregg Williams has brought to the defense, is providing for some solid non-tackle contact. During a pressure one on one pick up drill, where a defender bull rushes off the end and an offensive players picks him up, some big time hits occurred.

Media took notice as LB Jo-Lunn Dunbar ran over TE Billy Miller laying him out flat en route to destroying the tackle dummy with a football taped to an inflatable fake right arm.

Two plays later with everyone’s attention now on the drill, LB
Marvin Mitchell lined up against RB Reggie Bush. At the whistle, the two engaged with Bush holding his own until getting feet from the dummy. Mitchell then picked up Bush with two arms locked onto his chest and pile drived him onto the dummy, simulating a move out of the pro wrestling arena.

“It’s just one of those periods, one of those drills where you know it’s kind of a tough man competition and you don’t want to lose and be shown up,” said Bush after practice. “I felt like I didn’t do what I wanted to do. It’s a competition period and everything we do is competition. I felt like I didn’t get the most out of it that I could have.”

Bush jumped back up and immediately slammed his helmet on the ground hard enough to spill out some of the padding. Throughout practice it seemed that the defense, though not a full contact day, put some good licks on Bush and other backs. After every play Bush was involved in, he would then throw the football at defenders attempting to tackle him or utter a few choice words.

One play, DE Charles Grant hit Bush pretty good, who was being stood up by other defenders stuffing a running play.  Bush then shoved Grant in the helmet and threw the ball at him. Grant and Bush then jawed at each other well after the play.

The constant pulling and punching at the ball, and standing up of backs and receivers while it happens is creating a little tension that seems to be building a bully mindset on defense and forcing the offense to toughen up.

“I love the physical nature of our defense and it’s only going to help us as an offense and it’s only going to help them for game time situations,” Bush says. “I think those are some of the areas we were lacking the last few seasons. I think they’re going to do really well. I’m excited to see what our defense is going to do this year.”

AT’A BOYS

A pair of Saints cornerbacks had interceptions Sunday afternoon. CB Jabari Greer picked off QB Drew Brees on a third and nine play as the team worked through seven on seven third down drills. Greer was first to the break and beat WR Devery Henderson to the ball. In the team’s final full team drills, Greer almost picked off a Mark Brunell pass, bobbling the ball as he went towards the sidelines.

CB Randall Gay stepped in front of Marques Colston in the team’s final team drill period to secure the defenses second pick.

WR Robert Meachem, in full team drills near the end of practice, caught a pass deep over the middle on a crossing route. Meachem then turned the ball up field along the left sideline outrunning the secondary for a 65-yard touchdown.

BUMPS AND BRUISES

WR Adrian Arrington again worked on a limited basis as he continues to recover from a hamstring injury. WE Lance Moore was limited. DT Kendrick Clancy did not practice due to back spasms again. He is expected to be back on the practice fields tomorrow. A pair of players suffered some bumps in Sunday’s practice. LB Jo-Lunn Dunbar suffered a mild hamstring injury and TE Dan Campbell suffered a finger injury.