The big news - and by big we mean, it's news - is that first-round pick Malcolm Jenkins graduated early and will be at Saints minicamp beginning Saturday morning.

He was expected to miss all of minicamp and come to training camp behind schedule.

That's not the case now. He should be on schedule and ready to go when the end of the July gets here.

Observations
The last time we (the media) were able to look at the Saints, much was made about how "spirited" the defense was.

About two weeks later, not much has changed. The defense is still feisty and jumping on every loose ball on the field.

But this time, it appeared from my vantage point that the offense made some strides. Maybe they, too, were spirited this time.

Fight count,
Fri. morning practice: 2
- Both Head Coach Sean Payton and QB Drew Brees seemed to be alright with this. If they are, we are.

Other observations:

• WR Marques Colston, WR Adrian Arrington and WR Lance Moore all were limited or held out with pre-existing injuries. All are in the recovery period and none should miss the beginning of the season.


• TE Dan Campbell and TE Darnell Dinkins were injured in the morning session, both with leg issues. Dinkins walked out of the locker room with a walking boot on his right leg and on crutches. Head Coach Sean Payton made it sound like all of that was precautionary.


• RB Mike Bell looked good. He was quick and caught the ball well.He's an early candidate in my opinion to get some good reps this season.


• RB Lionel Hamilton looks like a truck. He's a big dude. He, too, could be a big player this year. But it's early in mini-camp. August isn't even here yet.


• WR Devery Henderson started with the 1's today since Colston was out. He looked good. He had one drop, but he also had several marvelous catches. He went high for one and made another with outstretched hands. He went high and caught a pass from QB Drew Brees over CB Randall Gay.


• CB Jabari Greer, one of the big acquisitions of the offseason, looked like he struggled a couple of time. Twice in a two-minute span he beaten by a receiver - once by Robert Meachem and once by Courtney Roby.

Punt Return
Punt return was a focus midway through practice and Reggie Bush, Tracy Porter and Skyler Green were the primary return men. Jason David was brought in for one return and caught the ball cleanly.

But what stood out was Porter's difficulties in even finding the ball. He fumbled his first one, didn't catch the second one, the third went through his hands, he caught the fourth and couldn't get to the fifth.

The second practice begins at 3 p.m. and is open to the public

Tonight's story for publishing:
Jeremy Shockey: The return of the intriguing tight end

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