New Orleans Saints Forums - blackandgold.com - Fleur-re-port from Saints' camp: practice with the New England Patriots; Brees & Payton quotes

Our beloved New Orleans Saints are up north this week as they are practicing with the New England Patriots in preparation for Thursday's first preseason game.

The Saints visited Washington DC on Monday in order to stop by the White House and visit with President Obama. Afterward, they visited wounded soldiers and played with a large group of kids for the NFL's Play 60 program.
Tuesday meant it was time to get back to work though and this time, they wouldn't be playing against themselves. It was said to be a spirited scrimmage up in Gillette Stadium which is fine by the Super Bowl champs.
What's even better is that the temperature was below 90 degrees and the heat index was not in triple digits. Quite a relief from the scorching heat back home.

Here are some notes from the two practices on Tuesday with the Patriots:
The three players on the Active PUP list which includes Darren Sharper, Robert Meachem, and Clint Ingram all sat out Tuesday's practice sessions. Rod Harper was also sidelined with a hip injury. Reggie Bush and Heath Evans did not participate in the afternoon practice, but there is nothing to report as to why.

Scott Shanle and Patrick Robinson were both back in action after missing much of last week.

Drew Brees and Tom Brady were obviously the center of attention. The fans of course were all over Brady due to him being the quarterback of their home team, but Brees wasn't going to let that stop him from putting up numbers just as impressive.

Robinson was said to really show something out there as he made numerous stops of Brady's passes as the famed quarterback tried to get them to his receivers.

Both offenses lit up the field, especially in the morning practice. Brees and Brady seemed unable to miss most of the time as they found receivers open time and time again.

During red zone drills in the morning, the Patriots scored two touchdowns coming off Brady passes to his tight ends. Roman Harper was beaten on a pass from Brady to rookie tight end Aaron Hernandez. Later, tight end Rob Gronkowski caught a third down pass from the five for a score.
In the afternoon session, Brees had a good session finishing 12 of 20 with one touchdown and one interception. The lone scoring pass was caught by Lance Moore.

During the two-minute drill in th afternoon practice, Garrett Hartley missed a 30-yard field goal just right of the uprights. This is the same way he has missed the few bad kicks so far in training camp, by pushing them just right.
The defense for the Saints looked good though as three sacks were recorded all by defensive ends. Will Smith, Bobby McCray, and Alex Brown each had one while Smith also had a forced fumble on Brady.