A few notable New Orleans Saints players got both a day off as they practiced mostly by watching from the sidelines, giving a few others the chance to shine during a two-hour practice session on Sunday at the team’s indoor facility. .
Sunday also marked the debut of a particular rookie at a position we have not yet seen. Here’s a little more about this observation, plus everything we saw at the Saints’ sixth open practice:
PARTICIPATION
Neither Alvin Kamara (stomach disease) still straightforward approach Ryan Ramczyk (rest) were Sunday on practice, and though quarterback Drew Brees a linebacker Demario Davis were present on the practice field, and did not participate after stretching with their teammates.
Brees took a baseball cap in practice, but he kept busy, following calls and appearing to chat about the plays after her conclusion with coach Joe Lombardi.
Left guard Andrus Peat (inch) a linebacker Anthony Chuckillo each missed her sixth exercise, defensive tackle Spitige Tuttle missed his fourth practice and defensive back Johnson Bademosi was absent for the second straight day.
Quarterback Taysom Hill returned to the team after he and his wife, Emily, welcome their first child – Beau Nixon Hill – Saturday. Hill had missed the previous two practices.
After Saturday’s practice, defensive back Keith Washington also came back to the field on Sunday, and he had a fun show.
Close Josh Hill was limited to individual drills.
RUIZ KRYT A CRACK OP CENTER
Cesar Ruiz made his practice debut at center (at least it was his debut during the practices made available to the media) and proved to be largely his own. The only notable hiccup came when Taysom Hill appeared to fumble a snap during a team drill – though it was not clear if it was a problem with the snap, or if Hill just dropped the ball.
Ruiz sees the part for sure. He is not particularly large, but he is also not small, and he has exceptionally quick feet for a person of his size.
The next step for Ruiz is to work with Brees and establish some feeling there. But his work at center on Sunday (and possibly the next few days) signals no sure thing about where he will ever play Ward 1 rolls.
“Both (Ruiz and Erik McCoy) are smart enough and good enough players where they can handle a switch like this in a stretch of a few days, ”said Saints coach Sean Payton.
With Ruiz at center, McCoy played Sunday with right-handers. Nick Easton continue filling in for Peat at left guard, and offseason addition Alex Hurst filled in for Ramczyk on right approach.
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Expand QB LOOK
With Brees looking from the back of the lineup, the keys to the official first team of Saints were put in the hands of Taysom Hill – and if we are honest, the timing was probably not great from Hill’s perspective.
“I’m sure he’s probably not gotten much sleep in the last 48 hours,” Payton said.
Hill did not look particularly sharp when he ran the first offensive Sunday, completing about half of his passes and missing an opportunity on a few big plays with off-target throwing.
This is of course a small sample size. And throwing is just one part of Hill’s game. And he probably has other things on his mind. But Payton acknowledged that Hill would probably not enjoy going back by Sunday’s practice material.
“I told him today, ‘Listen, you’re practicing a little bit when you’ve delivered the baby, but it was your wife,’ ‘Payton said.” That there’s going to be some movie for him to clean up some things, but it was good to have him back there. “
It should be noted that it was not a very bad day for Hill: His last throw in full team drills was a perfectly placed touchdown pass after rookie tight end Adam Trautman, and he ended his practice by converting a 2-point conversion with a pass in traffic to rookie receiver Marquez Callaway.
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On the other hand, Jameis Winston had a strong day Sunday. He’s clearly not afraid to cut it loose – which sometimes gets him in trouble, but on Sunday he showed some exciting glimpses of what he can do.
He turned in the game of the day when he launched a pass about 50 yards downfield to a stretch Bennie Fowler, hit him in the go for an enormous win. Two plays before that, he stepped into the pocket and rifled a pass to a breaking Callaway, who caught the ball and rode on field for a big win.
Winston also showed his mobility and creativity in the bag, and bought time to create a play. He has clearly lost weight this regular season and the result turns out to be a more sober player. He used his feet to make time for an off-schedule touchdown after Juwan Johnson in the back of the end zone late in practice, and Winston also shrugged for some nice wins.
His aggressiveness made at least one occasion backfire when he tried to drop a ball into the box Deonte Harris in the corner of the end zone only to be seen Patrick Robinson interpret it during a seven-on-seven drill.
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LAGNIAPPE
Kicker Wil Lutz appeared to connect on five of his six field goal attempts, including one to close out the 57-yard drill. We’ll say appeared to connect, because from the media’s point of view, it was not decisive if Lutz widened his second-to-last attempt 43 yards wide or snuck into the right-hand corner … Harris may be a problem for opposing defenses this year. He showed savviness and patience during one route combination Sunday, as he waited until he saw his defender on one side of a rub route to make the break on his own route near the end zone. The defender broke inside, and Harris hurriedly cut outside to catch a wide open touchdown … Marcus Davenport made several great plays in run support on Sunday, including a few defensive line coaches Ryan Nielsen dismissed. One of Davenport’s last plays involved shooting him again to blow up a runplay on a 2-point conversation, literally ending up wearing Davenport Ty Montgomery good in the backfield (players may not touch the ground) … Safety in the second year CJ Gardner-Johnson perhaps challenging Cam Jordan for the throne with high energy. He always communicates with his defensive teammates or talks good-natured trash with his attacking teammates – and he can make it too. He made a nice play to break the deadlock Jared Cook every Sunday.
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FOLLOWING
The Saints are back Monday with their seventh full-pad practice.
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