<span style="">The Saints went through another physical practice session this morning, highlighted by live hitting in two separate sessions. Head Coach Sean Payton decided to cancel this afternoon's previously scheduled practice (which was scheduled for 4:20 pm) and the team will wrap up their Millsaps College portion of training camp on Monday with a scheduled practice session at 8:50 am and 4:20 pm. The team will then break camp on Tuesday morning and head back to Metairie for combined practices with the Houston Texans on Wednesday and Thursday (closed to the public).
Practice Notes: Despite having been in camp for nearly three weeks, the Saints showed up this morning and were met by their most temperate weather conditions thus far in Jackson, as clouds and low humidity kept the temperatures in the low 80's. Thus it was not a surprise to see an overly energized practice session.
The Saints, who were crisp in their tackling in their first preseason game on Thursday night in Arizona, worked on full tackling drills this morning. Some highlights of this morning's session:
*RB Deuce McAllister picked up two hard yards on an inside run in a short yardage situation before being stood up and tackled by LB Mark Simoneau.
*WR Marques Colston hauled in a short slant and was stood up by S Roman Harper. Colston kept his legs churning and Harper wasn't willing to let the receiver pick up additional yardage. The stalemate ended when DE Will Smith quickly jumped in and knocked both Colston and Harper backwards and to the ground with a resounding thud.
*RB Reggie Bush bolted through a hole and picked up five yards but was dropped to the ground with a picture-perfect form tackle by CB Randall Gay.
*RB Aaron Stecker sliced through a gap and broke a tackle and streaked for 30 yards into the secondary before being hauled down by CB Tracy Porter.
*On the next play, Porter exacted his revenge when he tagged Stecker in the backfield on a sweep for a two-yard loss.
*The most physical tackle of the day came when reserve DT Orien Harris collared RB Pierre Thomas on an inside run and brought down the second-year RB with a hard tackle.
*Both kickers were sharp this morning, with Martin Gramatica connecting on 5-of-5 field goals, including a 54-yarder. Rookie Taylor Mehlhaff was 4-of-5 with his 54-yrader missing narrowly to the right of the upright.
*QB Drew Brees hooked up with TE Billy Miller for a 12-yard gain.
*MLB Jonathan Vilma intercepted QB Mark Brunell after DT Hollis Thomas got into the backfield and pressured Brunell to throw the football before his receiver came out of a route.
*CB Tracy Porter knocked down a pass, nearly intercepting the pass that was intended deep downfield for WR Lance Moore.
*DT Antwan Lake applied good pressure on Brees and forced an incompletion.
*LB William Kershaw stopped RB Lynell Hamilton for a three-yard loss.
*RB Reggie Bush scored in a red-zone drill on a catch-and-run.
*DE Will Smith tackled Bush for a six-yard loss on a run, as the quick defensive end nearly took the handoff from Drew Brees. Bush had no chance to even get his feet planted before Smith bulled him over.
*RB Lynell Hamilton burst off the right side of the line and was met in the hole by S Chris Reis, but Hamilton kept fighting and broke the tackle and picked up an additional five yards.
Quick Hits: The following players were held out of practice: WR Adrian Arrington (turf toe), G Andy Alleman (hip contusion), TE Jeremy Shockey (leg, scheduled rest), DE Bobby McCray (back), DT Brian Young (knee, scheduled rest). In addition, recently signed DT James Reed has been placed on the reserve/injured list with an Achilles injury. The team re-signed long snapper Ryan Senser, who was with the team earlier in training camp.
