Here's Nick Underhill's recap of today:

ATTENDANCE: Ryker Mathews (knee), Alden Darby (ankle) and Lawrence Virgil (unknown) were the only players missing from the start of practice. Defensive tackle Nick Fairley and safety Erik Harris left practice with unknown ailments.

THOMAS HIGHLIGHT: Sean Payton said after practice that if you didn't know any better, you could show up and think that rookie wide receiver Michael Thomas was one of the team's veteran players. His strong hands are as advertised, and they showed up again on Saturday when Thomas reached around Brian Dixon to make an incredible catch. Perhaps the most impressive thing was the adjustment on the underthrown pass.

GUNNERS: Several players go work at gunner on Saturday, including Thomas, R.J. Harris, P.J. Williams, Trae Elston, Brandon Dixon, Brian Dixon, Ken Crawley and De'Vante Harris. Brian Dixon continues to show his value in this phase and had the best showing during a punt simulation drill. The other player who stood out was Ken Crawley, who did a good job of beating a pair of jammers to the mark a couple of times during the drill.


RANKINS UP: With Fairley suffering an injury, it put Sheldon Rankins with the first-team in the base defense next to John Jenkins. The rookie appeared to hold is own after starting next to Fairley in the nickel defense on Friday. During one-on-one pass-rush drills, we had Rankins splitting a pair of reps against offensive lineman Senio Kelemete.

KICKER COMP: Kai Forbath made all four his attempts, while Connor Barth had one hit the upright. Another wrinkle to this might be kickoffs. The kickers handed those duties on Saturday, and special teams coach Greg McMahon told The Advocate that all three players, including punter Thomas Morstead, will be competing for that job.

ONE-ON-ONES: One thing that stood out was how well Cam Jordan performed during the session. He had four reps and dominated in three. Kasim Edebali had a very nice rep when he beat Joe Cheek with a spin move. Andrus Peat, who received reps at both guard and tackle, did a very good job against Obum Gwacham. Jack Allen, Max Unger and Tim Lelito did not give much up. Ashaad Mabry beat Landon Turner on one rep.

COOKS VS. BREAUX: Brandin Cooks got out on Delvin Breaux again. Breaux, however, responded by breaking up a pair of passes later in practice. Sticking with the cornerbacks, Damian Swann got some first-team reps on the outside. P.J. Williams handled those duties on Friday when the team was in base.