blacksaint

by Dave Lawrence, NewOrleansSaints.com
Thursday, August 02, 2007 - 1:00 PM


For the seventh straight day, the New Orleans Saints took to the practice field at 8:50 Thursday morning for the first half of a two-a-day practice session. The sun beat down on the field as the Mississippi heat kicked in a little earlier than it had been throughout much of the team’s first week of work at Millsaps College.

Head Coach Sean Payton and his staff continued their installation of the playbook as the team prepares to open the NFL’s preseason Sunday night against the Pittsburgh Steelers. The morning practice featured more situational work with emphasis on third down, nickel packages and the red zone.

Drew Brees was sharp again during the workout, spreading the ball around to receivers, tight ends and running backs throughout practice. One of Brees’ highlight throws of the morning came when hit Devery Henderson in stride as the speedy wideout ran a deep post pattern that would have gone for six points in a game setting.

Jason Craft got the better of Brees once in a later period, picking off a pass as the quarterback was pressured into throwing off of his back foot by a strong pass rush.

Safety Jay Bellamy looked like a wide receiver as he made a fine over-the-shoulder grab, intercepting a pass the Jamie Martin put a little too much air under as he looked to hook up with Robert Meachem deep down the middle of the field.

Tramain Hall leaped high into the air in the corner of the end zone to snare a Jason Fife pass despite tight coverage from rookie cornerback David Jones later in the period.

Payton called the team to their traditional post-practice huddle and informed them that today would be the last day of two-a-days for nearly a week as the players will have meetings but no practice Friday morning and an afternoon practice prior to traveling to Canton Saturday.

Thursday afternoon’s practice will once again see the team board buses and take to the grass at Jackson’s Memorial Stadium with the workout set to get going at 4:20.

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