TallySaint

Training-camp postcard: Saints

Posted: Saturday July 29, 2006 4:12PM; Updated: Saturday July 29, 2006 8:05PM





At surprisingly picturesque Millsaps College in Jackson, Miss., a tree-lined, Methodist, liberal-arts school (complete with a Gandhi statue in the middle of campus) with an enrollment of 1,123. The football coach at this Division III school (the Millsaps Majors) is former Alabama head coach Mike DuBose, and the stadium has a nice little Field-Turfed field. The Saints picked the right spot for camp. The practice fields are adjacent to the players' dorm and the campus center, which houses the meeting rooms and cafeteria.



Five Things I Think I Think

1. I think linebacker will be a problem spot for this team. Remember the good old days, when Vaughan Johnson, Sam Mills, Pat Swilling and Rickey Jackson -- all four were Pro Bowlers in 1992 -- were a unit? This year, try Scott Fujita and Tommy Polley on the outside, and Jay Foreman or rookie Alfred Fincher in the middle. Ouch. This team will be scanning the waiver wire come late August for help.

2. I think Deuce McAllister still looks a little tentative with the pads on. He's rebounding from his ACL surgery, and this morning was his first practice in full pads. "I'll definitely be ready'' for the opener in 43 days, he told me. But he's not now.

3. I think coach Sean Payton wants Jamie Martin to win the backup quarterback job over Todd Bouman, but that quest is on hold. Martin's wife is ill, and he is with her pending some medical tests. The Saints don't know when he'll be back.

4. I think whenever Reggie Bush signs (and I don't expect the holdout to be longer than three or four more days), my best guess is that he and McAllister will split the rushing duties almost 50-50. Reading between the lines with Payton this morning, that's the feel I got.

5. I think if I were third wideout Devery Henderson, I'd start catching the ball a little better. He dropped three Friday, from what radio man and former QB Bobby Hebert told me this morning at practice, and he dropped another one right in the breadbasket from Drew Brees this morning. Payton really likes a few of his young kids at wideout, including former Rams and Packers practice-squadder Jamal Jones, a quick, sure-handed kid.




Factoid

At his new home in Mandeville, a suburb of New Orleans across Lake Pontchartrain, Payton has a large inground swimming pool in the backyard. As construction on the home was being finished last month, the contractor noticed that a small alligator slithered through the wrought-iron fence and was taking a swim in the pool. "I had to wait until my wife had a margarita in her before I told her that story,'' Payton told me this morning.



Story continues....
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/200....saints/1.html



8)

My Guardian Angel wears a hard hat.

Iron-Head

That sounds about right

except Jamal Jones should be replaced with mike Hass

clown61

what abou the other Horn guy? How's he doing?

papz

I know Leisle is working with the first unit but I'm curious to see how he's looking there. Unproductive last year but he's a very strong guy that could help plug the middle. I'd also like to know how Lyman and Stinchcomb are handling things. Anyone went to camp that could update me?

spkb25

well i think we have some obvious holes but i also like the competition going on. i like everything i am reding about this haas kid. if he doesn't stay with us and i think he will, we will end up regretting it later. i know he is never going to be a speed demon or number one guy but i think he could definitely be a number 2 or 3 for some years to come. from what i read the guy just catches everything thrown his way. i think our offense should be a lot better this year and i expect that our d will be the same to a little improved. what does that equal, maybe 8-8 with a possibility of 9-7 wiht an outside shot at the playoffs. the only problem is our schedule is ridiculous and we may have to go 7-9 even playing well. i do expect one thing this year though that should be a huge upgrade over haz and company, and that is for our team to play tough each week and not make dumb mistakes. i like payton so far and i think we are at least headed in the right direction.

what do you cats think??

Your team stinks

maximkat

I think you are right.

I want to see what fincher can do.

LordOfEntropy

SPK -- What do I think? -- I think a tough schedule after a 3-13 season is not normal. But there it is.

6-10 is what I predict. And that's doing well.

jrmllb

I am hoping Devery gets it together...although he and antother reciever to the Pack for Al Harris does not sound bad...they need a reciever maybe even a RB (Bennett)...I have not heard a report on Ahman Green since camps started..