SmashMouth

The New Orleans Saints installed some of their 3-4 defensive packages for the first time during Sunday's practice. They used mountainous Shaun Rogers as their lone tackle in the first series, which made the alignment look more like a 4-4 front.



Ted Jackson/The Times-Picayune
New Orleans Saints' Shaun Rogers lined up inside when the team worked on the 3-4 defense on Sunday.
In their next set of team drills, Aubrayo Franklin took a turn as the lone nose tackle, the role he played for years in San Francisco's 3-4 front. Then Sedrick Ellis came in as the tackle during nickel packages, since he is the best pass rusher of the bunch.
Obviously the Saints will have plenty of options at that spot when they mix in some 3-4 fronts this year, as they've done often during defensive coordinator Gregg Williams' tenure.
Jo-Lonn Dunbar entered the lineup as an extra inside linebacker in the 3-4 sets. Dunbar moved inside this year to replace longtime backup Marvin Mitchell. Dunbar spent his first three seasons as an outside linebacker for the Saints, making 13 career starts on both the strong side and the weak side. But he is fired up about the move back to the middle, where he played at Boston College and considers his natural position.
Some other highlights from Sunday's practice:
- Drew Brees wasn't able to wash out the bad taste in his mouth from Friday's preseason opener. Two plays into team drills, he threw a ball directly into the breadbasket of safety Malcolm Jenkins. The pass appeared to be intended for receiver Lance Moore, but Brees and Moore weren't on the same page. The only one who seemed to know exactly what was happening was Jenkins, who clearly anticipated the play and sat and waited for the easy pick.

read more

Attached Thumbnails