Halo

Day four was another scorcher outside for the New Orleans Saints as training camp rolls on, but the afternoon practice was a bit cooler.

After trudging through the heat during the morning session, Coach Sean Payton moved the team inside for the afternoon. While not an over-the-top intense practice; the focus was still fully there as the Saints continue moving forward toward defending their title.

Practice Update: Tuesday, August 3 - the Saints had one outdoor practice scheduled for the afternoon with a start time of 3:20 PM. That has been changed to a morning practice starting at 8:50 AM and running for about two hours.

Sitting out today's practice were the usual four of Marques Colston, Robert Meachem, Darren Sharper, and Clint Ingram. I didn't see Ingram or Sharper participate at all, but Colston and Meachem did walkthroughs with the offense.

Jeremy Shockey (knee), Heath Evans, and Scott Shanle (knee) also were dressed but did not participate. Shockey practiced on a limited basis doing some walkthroughs.

But this was the day of the defense as they really were the ones that shined bright today. Stripping the ball, defending passes, and getting into the backfield for losses was the theme of the day.

Other observations from this afternoon's session:

• Patrick Ramsey looked much better early on during some slower drills, but continued to struggle during the 11-on-11 full speed. His throws continued to be low and not always on target as he practiced as Drew Brees' back-up ahead of Chase Daniel and Sean Canfield.
• Rookie OC Matt Tennant out of Boston College practiced for the first time with the team after having the weekend off due to the passing of his mother. Tennant was the Saints' fifth round draft pick in this year's draft.
• With Shanle sitting out, the first team linebacking corp consisted of Jonathan Vilma, Jonathan Casillas, and Jo-Lonn Dunbar.
• During passing drills, receivers and tight ends appeared to have issues holding onto the ball. Tyler Lorenzen and David Thomas both dropped balls that could have easily been caught. WR Larry Beavers is trying hard to make the team but two drops in the same drill is not going to help his chances.
• The defense was constantly gunning after the ball during the 11-on-11 drills and applying pressure. One time, Sean Canfield had to tuck the ball away and run for about five yards when the defensive front started to swarm around him. Another time saw Will Smith blow up Jermon Bushrod on the end to wrap up Pierre Thomas in the backfield for a loss.
• Garrett Hartley was very consistent on his field goal kicking again while going 6-for-6. He had a long of 52 yards. Thomas Morstead held for four of the kicks and bobbled the snap badly, but got it in place in time for Hartley's kick. Chase Daniel held the other two kicks.
• Leigh Torrence joined in on the defensive fun breaking up passes along with Malcolm Jenkins and Dunbar.
• Almost Play of the Day: Speaking of Jenkins, he could have made highlight reels today. Jenkins undercut a receiver on a pass from Brees and watched the ball bounce right in and then out of his hands. It would have been an easy pick-six if he just could have brought it in.
• Reggie Bush seemed in top form this afternoon as he showed his tremendous bursts of speeds on some outside runs and cut-backs.

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