As stated by Coach Sean Payton on Friday, Saturday's training camp practice for the New Orleans Saints included the camp debuts of defensive back P.J. Williams and offensive lineman Derrick Kelly. Each participated after spending the first two practices on the Non-Football Injury list.
Kicker Wil Lutz remains on that list and still has not kicked during camp. Meanwhile, cornerback Patrick Robinson was excused from Saturday's practice due to a personal matter.
NUMBER CHANGE: While most of the attention Saturday was on running back Alvin Kamara wearing the No. 6 jersey instead of his regular No. 41 during practice – Kamara, from time to time, has been known to toy around and wear a different jersey at practice – the official number change was made by receiver Marquez Callaway. Callaway wore No. 12 as a rookie but switched to No. 1 as of Saturday.
Kamara wore No. 6 in college at Tennessee but for the Saints, that number currently has been designated for receiver Tommylee Lewis. Lewis, who was added to the roster Friday, will have to complete the protocol process before he joins the team on the field.
The New Orleans Saints take the field for Day 3 of Training Camp presented by SeatGeek at the Ochsner Sports Performance Center.
BOOM TOWN: Saturday's practice was a pretty good exhibit on why the Saints are so high on punter Blake Gillikin, who they kept on injured reserve last season. Gillikin impressively, and consistently, blasted punts during his period.
In the first camp practice Thursday, he hit the ceiling beams in the indoor facility on 10 consecutive punts but Saturday, with that boundary removed, Gillikin boomed them high and deep, and also displayed the ability to drop them inside the 20 when necessary.
"It was pretty sharp," Payton said. "Yesterday, we had some big punts (from Nolan Cooney) but it was kind of like a home run or a strikeout. And that's a young player. It's good to have a live leg, and we got to see glimpses of that from (Gillikin) a year ago. I thought that period was good. It was pretty impressive."
KEN-DAY: It's never wise to overblow anything that happens in training camp on a singular day; consistent effectiveness is always the goal. But cornerback Ken Crawley had a standout showing Saturday. His best play might have been on a deep pass down the right sideline, from quarterback Jameis Winston and intended for receiver Tre'Quan Smith.
The pass was perfect, Smith cradled in the throw. But Crawley played the route so well, squeezing Smith to the sideline until no more room was available, that it was incomplete because Smith was out of bounds on the reception. It wasn't an interception, but Crawley's technique was exactly what it needed to be.
New Orleans Saints fans joined in the action at Day 3 of Training Camp presented by SeatGeek at the Ochsner Sports Performance Center.