Irvine, Calif. – To a man, the New Orleans Saints were looking forward to the scheduled joint practices against the San Francisco 49ers this week on Thursday and Friday, leading up to a preseason game between the teams on Sunday at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara.
The game will have to suffice.
The practices were canceled Sunday; the 49ers pulled out due to a severe case of injuries that would have affected the quality of the work.
"(San Francisco coach) Kyle (Shanahan) reached out to me yesterday, making me aware that they've got some things going on there in terms of having enough able bodies to have some good practices," Saints Coach Dennis Allen said. "I really haven't thought about how that will affect what we do.
"Obviously, we're going to be practicing against ourselves for the next four days. I think we'll probably take some of that planned work that we had against the 49ers, and we take the skeleton of that and just utilize that to work against ourselves.
"I enjoy the joint practices. I think it's good to get up against somebody else. But other than that, we're still going to get some good work here, so I'm not really that concerned about it."
The Saints held a light, non-padded practice Sunday at Cal-Irvine following a 16-14 victory over Arizona in their preseason opener Saturday night in Glendale, Ariz.
Often, joint practices can serve as a simulation of the preseason game, or perhaps better, given the number of reps that starters receive against the opposing team's starters.
"I'm very disappointed," defensive end Carl Granderson said. "I love competing, that's what camp is all about, to compete against other people.
"The good thing is, we can get better and work on ourselves and continue to compete against each other. And go out there on Sunday in the game against the 49ers and take it out to them."
"I think just the ability to go against somebody else, see some different schemes, go against some different people – I think that's what you lose," Allen said. "(But) I think we have good practices out here. I think we've had a lot of intensity in practice out here. I think any time you get a chance to kind of change things up a little bit it kind of reinvigorates, creates a little bit more focus. Some of those things."
NO RATTLER: Rookie quarterback Spencer Rattler (thigh contusion) didn't participate in Sunday's practice. Rattler completed nine of 17 passes for 70 yards, had a 4-yard touchdown run and led the Saints on a game-winning field goal drive. Allen said that the injury wasn't serious. "He was fighting to get out here to practice, it was probably more of a precautionary measure on our training staff's part."
PENNING REPORT: Allen said Trevor Penning , making his first start at right tackle after two seasons at left tackle, had an uneven showing against the Cardinals that Allen mostly would attribute to it being Penning's debut at the position.
"I would say there were some good things Trevor did, there's some things that he's still got to work to improve on," Allen said. "It's his first game playing right tackle, so I'm not overly concerned about that right now. And yet, I think he, I, we all understand that we've got to improve. And that's what he'll be out here working to do.
"I saw some things I hadn't necessarily seen out here every day at practice from a technique and fundamental standpoint. I think that's the key, for all of these guys and in particular guys that are trying to establish themselves, is when you see these things out here in practice and you see the fundamentals, you see the technique, you see the improvement.
"And then you want to make sure that you're able to kind of see the same thing in the stadium, under the lights, all those kinds of things. I chalk it up to the first preseason game and let's see how we improve from here."
BY ANY MEANS: Rookie receiver Bub Means (hamstring) returned to practice Sunday; receivers Rashid Shaheed and Equanimeous St. Brown (hamstrings) didn't participate in team drills. The most significant injury from the game was linebacker Isaiah Stalbird (ankle), who could miss some time. Allen said the other injuries were of the routine, bumps-and-bruises variety.
Full coverage of the New Orleans Saints workouts during 2024 Training Camp at the University of California, Irvine on Sunday, August 11.
Full coverage of the New Orleans Saints workouts during 2024 Training Camp at the University of California, Irvine on Sunday, August 11.
Full coverage of the New Orleans Saints workouts during 2024 Training Camp at the University of California, Irvine on Sunday, August 11.
Full coverage of the New Orleans Saints workouts during 2024 Training Camp at the University of California, Irvine on Sunday, August 11.
Full coverage of the New Orleans Saints workouts during 2024 Training Camp at the University of California, Irvine on Sunday, August 11.
Full coverage of the New Orleans Saints workouts during 2024 Training Camp at the University of California, Irvine on Sunday, August 11.
Full coverage of the New Orleans Saints workouts during 2024 Training Camp at the University of California, Irvine on Sunday, August 11.
Full coverage of the New Orleans Saints workouts during 2024 Training Camp at the University of California, Irvine on Sunday, August 11.
Full coverage of the New Orleans Saints workouts during 2024 Training Camp at the University of California, Irvine on Sunday, August 11.
Full coverage of the New Orleans Saints workouts during 2024 Training Camp at the University of California, Irvine on Sunday, August 11.
Full coverage of the New Orleans Saints workouts during 2024 Training Camp at the University of California, Irvine on Sunday, August 11.
Full coverage of the New Orleans Saints workouts during 2024 Training Camp at the University of California, Irvine on Sunday, August 11.
Full coverage of the New Orleans Saints workouts during 2024 Training Camp at the University of California, Irvine on Sunday, August 11.
Full coverage of the New Orleans Saints workouts during 2024 Training Camp at the University of California, Irvine on Sunday, August 11.
Full coverage of the New Orleans Saints workouts during 2024 Training Camp at the University of California, Irvine on Sunday, August 11.
Full coverage of the New Orleans Saints workouts during 2024 Training Camp at the University of California, Irvine on Sunday, August 11.
Full coverage of the New Orleans Saints workouts during 2024 Training Camp at the University of California, Irvine on Sunday, August 11.
Full coverage of the New Orleans Saints workouts during 2024 Training Camp at the University of California, Irvine on Sunday, August 11.
Full coverage of the New Orleans Saints workouts during 2024 Training Camp at the University of California, Irvine on Sunday, August 11.
Full coverage of the New Orleans Saints workouts during 2024 Training Camp at the University of California, Irvine on Sunday, August 11.
Full coverage of the New Orleans Saints workouts during 2024 Training Camp at the University of California, Irvine on Sunday, August 11.
Full coverage of the New Orleans Saints workouts during 2024 Training Camp at the University of California, Irvine on Sunday, August 11.
Full coverage of the New Orleans Saints workouts during 2024 Training Camp at the University of California, Irvine on Sunday, August 11.
Full coverage of the New Orleans Saints workouts during 2024 Training Camp at the University of California, Irvine on Sunday, August 11.
Full coverage of the New Orleans Saints workouts during 2024 Training Camp at the University of California, Irvine on Sunday, August 11.
Full coverage of the New Orleans Saints workouts during 2024 Training Camp at the University of California, Irvine on Sunday, August 11.
Full coverage of the New Orleans Saints workouts during 2024 Training Camp at the University of California, Irvine on Sunday, August 11.
Full coverage of the New Orleans Saints workouts during 2024 Training Camp at the University of California, Irvine on Sunday, August 11.
Full coverage of the New Orleans Saints workouts during 2024 Training Camp at the University of California, Irvine on Sunday, August 11.
Full coverage of the New Orleans Saints workouts during 2024 Training Camp at the University of California, Irvine on Sunday, August 11.
Full coverage of the New Orleans Saints workouts during 2024 Training Camp at the University of California, Irvine on Sunday, August 11.
Full coverage of the New Orleans Saints workouts during 2024 Training Camp at the University of California, Irvine on Sunday, August 11.
Full coverage of the New Orleans Saints workouts during 2024 Training Camp at the University of California, Irvine on Sunday, August 11.
Full coverage of the New Orleans Saints workouts during 2024 Training Camp at the University of California, Irvine on Sunday, August 11.
Full coverage of the New Orleans Saints workouts during 2024 Training Camp at the University of California, Irvine on Sunday, August 11.
Full coverage of the New Orleans Saints workouts during 2024 Training Camp at the University of California, Irvine on Sunday, August 11.
Full coverage of the New Orleans Saints workouts during 2024 Training Camp at the University of California, Irvine on Sunday, August 11.
Full coverage of the New Orleans Saints workouts during 2024 Training Camp at the University of California, Irvine on Sunday, August 11.
Full coverage of the New Orleans Saints workouts during 2024 Training Camp at the University of California, Irvine on Sunday, August 11.
Full coverage of the New Orleans Saints workouts during 2024 Training Camp at the University of California, Irvine on Sunday, August 11.
Full coverage of the New Orleans Saints workouts during 2024 Training Camp at the University of California, Irvine on Sunday, August 11.
Full coverage of the New Orleans Saints workouts during 2024 Training Camp at the University of California, Irvine on Sunday, August 11.
Full coverage of the New Orleans Saints workouts during 2024 Training Camp at the University of California, Irvine on Sunday, August 11.
Full coverage of the New Orleans Saints workouts during 2024 Training Camp at the University of California, Irvine on Sunday, August 11.
Full coverage of the New Orleans Saints workouts during 2024 Training Camp at the University of California, Irvine on Sunday, August 11.
Full coverage of the New Orleans Saints workouts during 2024 Training Camp at the University of California, Irvine on Sunday, August 11.
Full coverage of the New Orleans Saints workouts during 2024 Training Camp at the University of California, Irvine on Sunday, August 11.
Full coverage of the New Orleans Saints workouts during 2024 Training Camp at the University of California, Irvine on Sunday, August 11.
Full coverage of the New Orleans Saints workouts during 2024 Training Camp at the University of California, Irvine on Sunday, August 11.
Full coverage of the New Orleans Saints workouts during 2024 Training Camp at the University of California, Irvine on Sunday, August 11.
Full coverage of the New Orleans Saints workouts during 2024 Training Camp at the University of California, Irvine on Sunday, August 11.
Full coverage of the New Orleans Saints workouts during 2024 Training Camp at the University of California, Irvine on Sunday, August 11.
Full coverage of the New Orleans Saints workouts during 2024 Training Camp at the University of California, Irvine on Sunday, August 11.
Full coverage of the New Orleans Saints workouts during 2024 Training Camp at the University of California, Irvine on Sunday, August 11.
Full coverage of the New Orleans Saints workouts during 2024 Training Camp at the University of California, Irvine on Sunday, August 11.
Full coverage of the New Orleans Saints workouts during 2024 Training Camp at the University of California, Irvine on Sunday, August 11.
Full coverage of the New Orleans Saints workouts during 2024 Training Camp at the University of California, Irvine on Sunday, August 11.
Full coverage of the New Orleans Saints workouts during 2024 Training Camp at the University of California, Irvine on Sunday, August 11.
