1:03 PM Sat, Jun 06, 2009 | Permalink
Bradley Handwerger
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Malcolm Jenkins, New Orleans' first-round pick in this past April's draft, made his debut Saturday morning.
And the fans were out in force to see it. Officials estimated more than 3,100 folks showed up for the final open session of minicamp, prompting Head Coach Sean Payton to once again declare that this city's fan base is different than any other place.
Were there that many fans? I don't know. There were a lot of people out there.
Now that that's out of the way, let's get to the real stuff.
As always, keep in mind that these practices aren't in pads and little to no contact is the name of the game.
Fight Count:
Saturday morning: 0
Total through 3 practices: 3
Injury Observations:
- WR Marques Colston and WR Adrian Arrington were at practice, but didn't go through drills. Ditto for WR Lance Moore. They all continue to rehab from offseason injuries and are expected to be good to go for training camp.
- TE Darnel Dinkins sprained an ankle and wasn't at practice. TE Dan Campbell, as reported on Friday, will have surgery on Monday to repair the MCL in one of his knees. And LB Dan Morgan missed practice with a strained calf.
Observations, II
- **Two-star News: The Saints showed a little something different today, going between a 3-4 and 4-3. In the 3-4, LB Scott Shanle and LB Mark Simoneau were in together. In the 4-3, DE Bobby McCray was a stand up end (honestly, that could also be called a 3-4 with McCray being considered an OLB). This could be something to keep an eye on for sure once training camp opens.**
- WR Marques Colston did, however, go through some routes with QB Drew Brees following practice.
- WR Devery Henderson caught punts following practice and could join WR Skyler Green and CB Tracy Porter as possible return men.
- On CB Malcolm Jenkins' first play of minicamp, WR D'Juan Woods beat the rookie deep, but the pass was overthrown and fell incomplete.
- Early during pass drills, the quarterbacks were throwing too far.
- Defensive backs continue to have problems holding onto interceptions. I counted at least four dropped interceptions this morning.
- Both punters - Glenn Pakulak and Thomas Morstead - looked quite good. Both had booming punts, drawing oohs and ahhs from the crowd.
Observations, Interesting Play Edition
- During the first team period, LB Jonathan Vilma deflected a pass from QB Drew Brees even with big offensive guard Carl Nicks blocking him.
- RB Mike Bell, looking so good throughout the first two days, fumbled the ball late when the defense continued to try and strip the ball. Makes you wonder if defensive coordinator Gregg Williams' "the play is never dead" philosophy might actually pay off
- CB Jenkins, in coverage against WR Woods once again, made a nice play, knocking a pass from QB Joey Harrington away from the receiver over the middle.
- One of the best plays of the day came on the last play of the first team period. QB Brees threw downfield to WR Robert Meachem with LB Marvin Mitchell and S Darren Sharper in coverage. Mitchell and Sharper were there, but ran into each other and Meachem caught the pass. He spun away and into the end zone.
Tomorrow's Story Today:
S Darren Sharper was brought in to shore up the defensive backfield. So far, so good, at least from a leadership standpoint.
Whooooo DAT!