Saints Camp

[rajncajn]

Update for DE Rob Ninkovich owners: Ninko left practice Yesterday evening with an apparent left knee injury. He did walk off on his own, but was said to be in obvious pain. No word yet of the extent. Also Roman harper did not participate in the afternoon session due to some soreness in his repaired knee. No worries there though, it's expected and they're just being cautious.

 

Saints Training Camp 2007

Monday, July 30th

 

 

 

I skipped this morning’s walk-through sleeping in a bit, but the Saints made up for it with an extended afternoon practice in full pads so you’re in luck for tonight.

 

Saw Tom Benson today. He came riding by where I was standing in his golf cart to his private patio. It was actually quite regal in a Millsap’s Training Camp sort of way. His white tent set up on the highest hill in the immediate area allowing him to survey all that he is master of. The green carpet laid on the grass leading up to it and the roped off area. I had a strange urge to go pay homage :hihi:

 

So today’s winners and losers

 

Winners

 

Kendrick Clancy – Spent a considerable amount of time rotating into the first string defensive line in the place of Hollis Thomas (HT, like FT and Jay Bellamy, was still with the first team, he just gave way to Clancy for much of today) and looked really effective against the first team offensive line. Got caught moving laterally a few times but looked really good fighting off blocks and got decent penetration. The one thing I don’t like is how slow he looks on stunts. I don’t see him as ever being a one-gap/3-tech, that doesn’t seem to be his skill set. But he’s got a low center of gravity and a powerful lower body, he got movement even against double-teams.

 

Marvin Mitchell – Maybe it was because I was focused in on him but it seemed he got more snaps at MLB then anyone else even though he was 3rd in the rotation (behind Mark Simoneau and Brian Simmons). I was really, really impressed with him. Off and on thus far this camp I’ve seen “flashes” of Mitchell making plays, but having not paid specific attention to him I didn’t feel comfortable lauding him too much. It’s clearly deserved. Great instincts and a real thumper. Today was still no-tackling but while most of the other linebackers would simply “touch” the runner out Mitchell was putting his chest on every single ball carrier. He repeatedly read the play and hit the right gap.

 

The knock on Mitchell pre-draft seem s to be legit though. He’s pretty slow and struggled to stay in the play when it got to the sidelines. He did a better job then I expected staying deep with Eric Johnson but was ultimately unable to matchup with him. He’s not a 3 down linebacker and struggled to make his presence felt in the nickel situations they practiced today.

 

Brian Simmons – I knew what we were getting with him (as did the forum) but it was still nice to see it in camp. Great read and react player with good coverage skills as well. Always seemed to be the first to have the heads up on play-action plays and more then once he helped other LBs get in place when they were confused by some of the motion. The thing I noticed about Simmons in run defense was how clean he always was getting in on the tackle. He is not a fan of contact and seemed to die a bit whenever they got a body on him in the tandem blocking drills. But in the full-unit/full-speed drills it never seemed to be a barrier, he has a knack for finding the angle of least resistance to get in on the running play.

 

Jason Craft – Looked better and more consistent today then I have seen from him in camp so far. Up till now he’s been very much up and down, but he made a number of great plays today without any mistakes that I noticed. He had a number of athletic deflections and never got beat.

 

Losers

 

Troy Evans – Only one. Evans looked repeatedly lost/confused, especially whenever the offense had motion. Didn’t look comfortable at all in his assignments.

 

 

 

Interesting plays and formations

 

The Saints practiced the final 15 seconds of a game. Specifically running a draw play, getting to the LOS, and getting a final pass play off. It was interesting that a draw play was the play of choice before the final play (and makes a lot of sense). If you run a pass route you probably don’t leave yourself enough time to get the receivers back to the LOS and run a second play. A draw play leaves everyone milling around the same area so you can get that second play (if you don’t catch the defense by surprise and score).

 

But then, if the defense decides to pile up you can just as easily waste 10 seconds digging the ball carrier from underneath it all…

 

Mentors and students

 

I always find it interesting to see who is giving extra help…and who is getting it. Mike McKenzie was showing Anwar Philips a coverage he ran wrong, David Patten showed Rhema McKnight the footwork on a route. Dhani Jones was getting pointers from the coaching staff and Robert Meachem continues to draw special attention from the coaching staff.

 

Robert Meachem Watch: 2007

 

Speaking of Meachem, to answer the inevitable questions. Meachem ran a bad route that got him chewed out once and a few drops. Meachem also had some very good routes, in particular a wicked fade, but in nearly all of those cases he was the victim of poorly thrown balls. So your typical Meachem, obvious flashes of talent but still pretty spotty.

 

Last note that I thought was interesting. In previous spaces I noted that Cooper was struggling a bit and that I thought it was in part due to the fact that he isn’t ideally suited for the LDE spot. Well today they had Ninkovich, Cooper, and Evans all 3 rotating between both the LDE and RDE spot with the second team (obviously 2 in and 1 out). So everyone seems to be getting equal snaps at the various DE positions which may improve Coopers performance (and maybe hurt Evans). I didn’t focus in but it didn’t appear to help Cooper much today…or hurt Ninko. Ninkovich really beat Rob Pettiti and got great pressure on one play in particular.

 

I’ll be back on schedule tomorrow guys.

[myhousekey]

As a fan of Ninkovich, I sure hate to see this guy continue to get banged up.

 

Supposedly it was not the same knee as he injured last season and they don't think its an ACL. Possible patella injury.

 

We should know more when the coach talks to the media at 10:30.

Edited July 31, 2007 by myhousekey

[rajncajn]

http://www.sunherald.com/sports/story/109892.html

Harper, Ninkovich injured in Monday's practice

By LARRY HOLDER

lholder@sunherald.com

 

JACKSON --

Defensive end Rob Ninkovich and safety Roman Harper missed out on much of the New Orleans Saints' historic run last year, each dealing with ACL injuries. Both made it back in time with a clean bill of health for this year's training camp.

 

But both players were injured in Monday afternoon's practice.

 

Ninkovich had to be carted off the field near the end of practice with an injured left knee. The initial signs didn't look good, and Ninkovich buried his head in his hands as he left.

 

But Saints coach Sean Payton said it was a different type of injury from the torn ACL Ninkovich suffered in his right knee last season. He said the initial concern was Ninkovich's patella, but that it was premature to speculate.

 

"With Ninkovich, we don't have an official statement on the situation, but the news was somewhat encouraging, like it was not as serious as it initially felt on the field," Payton said.

 

Payton said that according to trainer Scottie Patton, Ninkovich had stability in the left knee and Patton was encouraged with the post-practice test before Ninkovich left Millsaps to receive an MRI.

 

Ninkovich's season ended in the first quarter of the team's homecoming to the Superdome against Atlanta on Sept. 25.

 

Harper's prognosis was less serious. The strong safety's surgically repaired left knee swelled up after the morning session. Harper rode the stationary bike and didn't appear to be limping after practice. He could be back as early as today.

 

Harper tore up his knee in the Saints' 27-24 win against Philadelphia in the Superdome on Oct. 15.

Edited July 31, 2007 by rajncajn

[myhousekey]

Payton said after practice that the knee injury to Rob Ninkovich – who was carted off the field during Monday afternoon’s practice – was not as bad as originally feared, but that the defensive end will miss the next four weeks with a sprained MCL.

[rajncajn]

Payton said after practice that the knee injury to Rob Ninkovich – who was carted off the field during Monday afternoon’s practice – was not as bad as originally feared, but that the defensive end will miss the next four weeks with a sprained MCL.

 

http://blog.nola.com/saintsbeat/2007/07/no..._this_time.html

 

The post injury news for Saints defensive end Rob Ninkovich was much better the second time around: a sprained medial collateral ligament in his left knee, that't won't require surgery.

 

But Ninkovich, battling for a roster spot on a team desperately in need of a quality backup at the position, could miss about four weeks, Coach Sean Payton said after Tuesday's morning practice.