New Orleans Saints Forums - blackandgold.com - The Advocate Saints stage race between Will Clapp, Henry Mondeaux and tackling dummy

BY JOEL A. ERICKSON | JERICKSON@THEADVOCATE.COM AUG 12, 2018 - 1:15 PM

Sean Payton took a moment during practice on Sunday for an impromptu race.

A rookie offensive lineman, in this case LSU and Brother Martin's Will Clapp, versus a rookie defensive lineman, undrafted free agent Henry Mondeaux.

And a tackling dummy. The Saints have a motorized tackling dummy that can move at fairly high speeds, and Payton put Clapp and Mondeaux up against the machine.

"What we found is that motorized dummies do not move too fast on the grass," Payton said. "Now, in the indoor facility, they do."

Mondeaux beat Clapp, but both were far ahead of the dummy, which apparently doesn't move too well on a natural surface.

"It’s not a mudder," Payton said. "It’s fast inside. We might have to redo it under better conditions."

Clapp and Mondeaux aren't the only ones who've had a close encounter with a motorized tackling dummy recently.

Drew Brees was playing with one on "The Ellen Show" this offseason.

"I was having fun with it until I spun it around and had it coming directly at me, and I thought it was one of these things where I could kind of put my shoulder into it and everything would be good," Brees said. "The problem is the motor and everything, the weight is down below, so even though you hit the top, the bottom keeps going."

Brees found himself flipped onto the ground.

"A little bit of an embarrassing moment," Brees said. "It got the best of me."