Head coach Sean Payton worked the team out for 45 minutes on Millsaps College's stadium field. And when I say worked out, I mean that in the loosest sense of the term.

They went through how to lineup for stretching, punt return, kick return, yada yada yada.

Information gleaned from this session:

Pierre Thomas and Terrance Copper were working with the first-team kickoff return team as the returners. Skyler Green appeared to be the deep man for the hands team, the unit that goes in for onside kicks and the such.

I didn't catch who was back for punt returns.

It also appeared that the starting cornerbacks will be Randall Gay and Jason David, with Usama Young coming in during nickel situations. Gay will then move to the nickelback position.

Also of interest, Sedrick Ellis was with the first-team. During dime situations, Charles Grant moved inside.

They also worked on how to substitute, who to substitute and when to substitute.

There you have it. Now we're all prepared for Thursday's preseason exhibition at Arizona. The game starts at 7 p.m.

He's cut the past two practices short and they've been in helmets and jerseys instead of full pads.

Wednesday morning's practice will be 45 minutes instead of the normal 2 hours, 10 minutes. The team will eat and bus to the airport to fly to Arizona for their Thursday game with the Cardinals.

Not much was gleaned from Tuesday's practice is what I'm trying to get at.

Payton said Tuesday was the first time the team fully focused on Arizona's offense and defense.

Highlights
- This might actually go as a low light. Third-string quarterback Tyler Palko tossed four interceptions, though there's a split thought amongst the media that one of them was on purpose.

Jason Craft, Randall Gay, Scott Fujita and David Roach all picked off the former Pittsburgh star. Defensive end Bobby McCray almost intercepted a screen pass, but the ball fell out of his hands.

Geathers was signed by the Saints in May, then released during the summer. He's now back with the franchise.

He played two years at UNLV and started 22 of 23 games.

Deuce McAllister and Jeremy Shockey are among several projected regulars that Saints coach Sean Payton already has decided to keep out of the lineup when New Orleans plays its first preseason game Thursday at Arizona.

Cornerbacks Mike McKenzie and Tracy Porter, as well as wide receiver Devery Henderson, will sit out as well, Payton said Monday.

Most of the players are resting as a precaution.

No one wore pads and it was more of a walk-through than anything.

Highlights:
-The offense did work a little bit, throwing mostly at Jason David and mostly completing passes.

-And Robert Meachem did make a pretty catch in traffic in the end zone from Mark Brunell.

But that's about it.

-The team ended practice with field goal and both Martin Gramatica and Taylor Mehlhaff nailed their kicks. They kicked 37- and 42-yarders from the right hash while hitting a 38-yard field goal from the left.

-Jamaal Brown worked with the third team offense in the afternoon.

-The team resumes practice tomorrow afternoon in preparation for Thursday's preseason exhibition game at Arizona.

So, in the first go-round with the first team offense, Drew Brees dropped a snap and on fourth-and-goal, Marvin Mitchell tipped a Brees pass away to stymie the offense.

When the second-team offense went, Aaron Stecker scored right away on a 3-yard touchdown before Mark Brunell rolled to his left and found fullback Kevin Dudley for a touchdown.

On the next play Pierre Thomas burst through the line and front-flipped into the end zone. But again on fourth-and-goal, Mitchell knocked away a pass that would have gone for a touchdown.

And then the 1's played the 1's. On first down, the defense stuffed Deuce McAllister. A play later, the defense again came up with a stop, keeping Reggie Bush out of the end zone.

On third down, Stecker ran to the right between the guard and tackle and scored a two-yard touchdown. And on the final play of the series, linebacker Scott Shanle snuffed out a Bush run to the left.

In other news, Marques Colston (knee), Devery Henderson (hamstring), Tracy Porter (hamstring), Josh Bullocks (knee), Mike McKenzie (knee), Brian Young (knee), Josh Savage (shoulder) and Hollis Thomas (knee) all sat out. Head coach Sean Payton doesn't expect Colston, Henderson and Porter to play Thursday in the preseason exhibition.

The only other thing that stood out in practice was that Jason David and not Lance Moore was back with Bush and Skyler Green returning punts.

The Saints will practice in the afternoon. Sports Director Jim Henderson said the highlights of practice came on two long TD connections between Drew Brees and Lance Moore. Henderson said that Brees has looked especially sharp lately.

Jim also said that no one left the practice field due to injury and those who have been missing lately - Devery, Shockey, etc - continued to miss, while those who have returned - Deuce, McKenzie - worked out.

One of those is the Saints and whether they can resurrect the careers of Jeremy Shockey, Reggie Bush and Jonathan Vilma. The opinion in the article is that if these guys finally live up to billing, the Saints could be serious title contenders.

*In the article, the Saints issue is listed as number two, so read down a ways.

Think about it:
-You could have Bobby McCray, Charles Grant, Sedrick Ellis and Will Smith across the front.
-You could have Grant, Hollis Thomas, Ellis and Smith across the front.
-You could have McCray, Ellis, Thomas, Smith across the front.

It's like a Rubik's Cube, but with defensive linemen.

Ellis looked in shape, but by the end of the day, he definitely was feeling the Mississippi heat. D-line coach Ed Orgeron used the day to run Ellis through more individual than his teammates.

Highlights:
- The defense did well during red zone drills. The first-team offense went 2-for-5, scoring when Drew Brees connect with David Patten in tight coverage by Jason David and also when Brees found tight end Billy Miller wide open in the corner of the end zone.

- The second-team defense excelled, keeping the offense out all five times. WR Adrian Arrington dropped a pass in the end zone and pulled up limp, though head coach Sean Payton said it wasn't serious.

Then Mark Brunell's pass was batted down at the line before Brunell's pass to Robert Meachem was dropped over the middle.

The play of the day came when LB Marvin Mitchell tipped a Brunell pass up and lineman Kendrick Clancy intercepted the pass.

- RB Deuce McAllister (knee), CB Mike McKenzie (knee), TE Jeremy Shockey (leg), WR Devery Henderson (hamstring) and CB Tracy Porter (hamstring) all sat out practice. McAllister, McKenzie and Shockey were situations where Payton didn't want to overwork them during rehabilitation while Henderson and Porter sat out with Grade I hamstring pulls. Payton said their prognosis is positive in the long term.

After talking with and listening to New Orleans general manager Mickey Loomis speak, it was obvious that he was fairly irked with the whole process. I don't know offhand the longest holdout he has ever had to deal with, but for some reason, this one really got to him.

And he placed the blame on the agent. I'm not sure how often I agree with Loomis, but I definitely agree on this one. The two defensive linemen ahead of Ellis both signed by late Saturday. There was no reason this deal shouldn't have been done by Sunday.

Regardless, Ellis comes to camp Wednesday afternoon. I'll be interested to see how he handles the camp in regard to the shape he's in. He has been working out in Tampa, Fla., sure. But he hasn't been working out in pads. It's different. And he'll be six days behind his teammates.

Highlights from Tuesday night:
-Citing field condition and weather, head coach Sean Payton moved Tuesday's practice to Memorial Stadium and to 7:30 p.m. It paid dividends. The temperatures were much, much cooler (likely thanks to afternoon cloud cover and rain showers) and so much more bearable. I know the players were thankful for that.

-RB Chris Barclay is likely done for the season. Barclay became a Saint at the end of the 2007 season when it seemed like every running back was getting injured. He filled in admirably. However, Tuesday night, he had a gruesome injury to his lower leg. He planted his foot to try and reach back for an underthrown ball from QB Tyler Palko. His foot, however, stuck in the ground and he bent over backwards. Palko, once he was finished with the series, immediately went over to Barclay.

-WR Skyler Green had a great practice. But one particular play caught my eye and likely everyone else's. Green went deep on a go route and got behind the cornerback and safety. He caught the ball steps from the end zone and went in for a score. The several hundred fans in attendance appreciated that one.

-Here's a name you won't hear from much, if ever again: WR Todd Blythe had one of the night's best plays. With CB Gregg Fassitt on him in one-on-one coverage, Blythe used a double move to lose the defender. He caught a pass and went into the end zone untouched.

-WR Adrian Arrington had a decent practice. He dropped a few balls in individual drills that shouldn't be dropped, but during pass skele and team, he made some nice catches and gave good effort on balls that were all but uncatchable. He's quickly endearing himself to Saints fan in attendance.

-The hit of the night goes to OL Tim Duckworth. Probably 10 or more yards down the field past the line of scrimmage, he absolutely pancaked someone. I didn't get the number of the truck he ran over, but I think it might have been DB Wale Dada. Needless to say, it elicited one of the biggest cheers of the night.

-Payton canceled practice Wednesday morning, instead deciding on letting his players spend time going over plays and film and not going outside. Practice resumes at Millsaps College at 4:20 p.m.