Irvine, Calif. – In three days and less than 30 snaps during team periods, New Orleans Saints defensive end Chase Young fit the role of a man to be reckoned with.
The attention-grabbing began Monday, the first of three days of full-pads training camp practice at Cal-Irvine. One of his reps in team drills saw Young power rush the offensive tackle into the quarterback's lap, a snap that was a bit more forceful than Coach Dennis Allen wanted, but nevertheless impressive.
Tuesday, Young first proved to be a headache for rookie left tackle Taliese Fuaga in one-on-one drills as he won a couple of reps, then in team drills he snuffed out a run that would have been a tackle for loss and won another snap that would have resulted in a sack.
Wednesday saw Young again imposing his will and wreaking havoc, ahead of his timetable for recovery from offseason neck surgery. He was cleared for practice July 22.
"He's certainly ahead of where we thought he was going to be at this point in time and so, I think the ramp up for him is just every day, you're going to see a little bit more," Allen said. "Now, what's a little bit more? Well, it may be a couple more reps each period until finally, we're ready to fully incorporate him into the whole deal.
"I haven't seen any limitations at all out of him, other than its really kind of been a while since he's really been playing real football. Just trying to get his football legs up under him a little bit, and I like the progress.
"I would say he's exceeded my expectations to this point, just in terms of, I didn't really know the player. I knew of him coming out of Ohio State, the talent that he was, and saw him play in our league. But I didn't really know him personally.
"Just the way that he's gone about his business, the way that he has come to work every day – he's done everything we've asked him to do, the way we've asked him to do it, never has there been any sort of kickback on anything. I've been really pleased with that part of it. And I think as you watch practice, I think you can feel it when he's out there."
No doubt the teammates who have opposed him in practice can, as Young has used some of the tips he has received from Saints defensive end Cam Jordan, the franchise all-time leader in sacks, about hand placement and speed-to-power rushes, and vice versa.
"Feels good to get out and practice with the guys," Young said Wednesday.
"I was just doing what I had to do to help speed up my recovery process. What I did, it worked and it was great."
Young said his neck is the last thing he's concerned about, a clearance that has helped his on-field comfort. So the goal now is to "be a great teammate, get the playbook down, do my job."
"I feel good," he said. "I feel like we've still got another month until the first game. I've been in the weight room every day, still trying to stay on top of my body. I think I'll be even better in a month."
