QBREES9

Saints looking for another running back

Deke Bellavia / bigchief@wwl.com Reporting
The long week came to an end Sunday Morning as the New Orleans Saints wrapped up the week with a nearly two hour practice. The Saints schedules a weightlifting afternoon session and a brief walk thru before returning to the field for two practices Monday. The first practice (8:50AM-11AM) is open to the public.

"We had a little bit more emphasis on move the field drills, and then we finished with the short yardage drills at kind of three quarters speed," said Saints coach Sean Payton. The Saints have two more days of practicing against themselves before the Houston Texans come to town for practice and preseason game number two.

Players not participating in practice this morning included TE's Jimmy Graham and Tyler Lorenzen, WR Adrian Arrington, Safety Usama Young, LB Stanley Arnoux and FB Marcus Mailei. The three players still on the Physically Unable to Perform List; S Darren Sharper, LB Clint Ingram and WR Robert Meachem were also not in action.

Coach Payton was encouraged by his team's Sunday practice. "I thought we were pretty good this morning. It was still warm – not as warm as it was last week – but I thought it was still good. I was pleased with it. Yesterday we were mindful that we were just a day and a half off of playing, and today we wanted to get after it a little bit more. I thought it went pretty well."

After the team cut ties with injured RB Lynell Hamilton yesterday, the question of will the Saints bring in another RB was asked once again.
"We're currently looking. It's not something that we've decided that we're going to wait on, but the question is can we find the right player, and do we have to wait if we can't?" Payton explained. " We're looking right now, so I wouldn't say we're staying pat. We just haven't signed anyone in the last two days. Hopefully we're able to get someone in here that we have a high enough grade on."

Coach Payton went on to say that RB's PJ Hill and Chris Ivory have been doing well, but they have a lot of work ahead of them.

WWL's Bobby Hebert said, "Coaches want to see how players respond to criticism. They want to see if they are picking up what they are taught in the classroom and using it out on the field."

Hebert noted that defensive coordinator Gregg Williams called out rookie CB Patrick Robinson at this morning's practice. Robinson then responded by making a good play on the ball and finished with a pretty good overall practice.

The Saints worked on the running game on both sides of the ball. DE Junior Galette looked good against the run after showing solid pass rushing skills against the Patriots. In the red zone seven on seven drills, QB Drew Brees completed nice passes to RB Reggie Bush and WR Lance Moore.

Safeties Roman Harper and Malcolm Jenkins both had nice pass break-ups, and DL Sedrick Ellis had a good outing in one on one drills as he got by OG Jahri Evans. The Saints then worked on short yard situations.

CB Randall Gay came up with a big stop on fourth and short followed later by a Drew Brees TD pass to TE Jeremy Shockey. DT Anthony Hargrove batted down a pass and nearly picked it off making a nice play for the defense.

DE's Jeff Charleston and Will Smith both came up with sacks. QB Sean Canfield continued to struggle as he was picked off by CB Patrick Robinson and really did not get into a flow at the Saints practice this morning.

www.sportsshooter.com/johnjcoleman

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diamond12

Saints need a big ole boy..someone who could pound out the yardage and make the D line pay at the same time....a Duece clone with more speed and weight and size.

Euphoria

I don't think we need anyone. Our back ups are going to bring some excitement! Besides I don't like anyone that is available at this point more than our back ups.
If we go after RB's we had better go after a back up QB as well, lets be honest.

SmashMouth

Ding...Ding....Ding ...we have a winner!

Rugby Saint II

I wonder if the FO is looking at some type of trade? This seems like a good option for us to look at. We have good depth at several positiions and could have some leverage.

mighty12

Ladell Betts it is, just reported by ESPN!