SAINTS ANALYSIS: Kendall Duncan talks with ESPN’s Katherine Terrell about week 1 of training camp
All right, I’m now joined alongside Kat Terrell from ESPN. Kat, just 4 practices now in the books, no pads yet, but what are just maybe your general takeaways so far? Well, obviously the heat is going to be the thing everyone talks about. It got so hot Kelmore had to send them in to finish practice, and that was actually when one of the best players at practice occurred when *** new signee Julian Blackman picked off Jay Kaner in 7 on 7. But really my impressions are that everything’s up tempo. They tell the quarterbacks that all the time, tempo, tempo, tempo. You really don’t see many periods of practice where they’re just sitting around or standing around, and that’s definitely something that stood out the 1st 4 days. Kellen Moore, as you mentioned, tempo guy, but also really *** calculated guy, making all of his practices really efficient. Just what are your takeaways from him seeing him now kind of more into action after we’ve seen him through OTAs, mini camps, and all of that. Just what you said, efficiency, I think that goes along with tempo. It really seems like there’s *** reason for everything they do. One thing they’ve talked about *** lot is sports science. They really want these players to recover and take time off their feet, and they’re already getting better in rest days. So I think they’re trying to fix the injury problem that plagued the Saints last year. And so far that’s been another big emphasis. All right, can’t talk about training camp without the two favorite words right now in this city quarterback competition. Just your thoughts on all three of those guys. Do you truly believe it is *** 3 man battle and has anyone maybe stuck out to you thus far? Well, Jake Hayner called himself the underdog, and I do believe that to be true. I think that it’s. to be hard to have 3 quarterbacks take all these snaps. I mean, if you’ve been watching practice, you see that with, for example, Tyler Shuck didn’t get as many snaps when he rotates back onto the 3rd team or the second team. Spencer Rowler took the snaps today. So I think eventually they’re going to have to go to *** 2 quarterback race. I don’t know when that’s going to be. I do think that they’re going to step it up once the pads come on, but right now I think that between Rattler and between shock, it really is *** tossup. They both have their ups and downs. Let’s go to the other side of the ball. Brandon Steely implementing his new defense going from *** 4-3 to *** 3-4. What have you seen from that side of the ball as you mentioned some of the new guys they brought in. Julian is *** Blackman, and we saw Danny Stutzman also have *** good interception today, kind of just your overall thoughts on the defense and maybe the change in scheme. Well, DeMario Davis was out, so I thought Stutzman really got to shine. He had one of also the best players of practice when he picked off Spencer Ratler in the end zone, Ratler was looking for Cedric Wilson. I think he read the play great. I I also think there was *** period when they were doing red zone drills where the defensive line just looked great. Chase Young had pressure. Carl Granderson had pressure. I think 3 pressures in *** row basically. And you know, I’m not going to get too ahead of myself. You can only have so much pressure when you can’t touch the quarterback, but still I think it was *** good sign for the defensive line, and Chase Young seemed excited when he talked about it. All right, back to the other side of the ball because you’re talking about the defensive line. The O line, really, the Saints have invested so much into the O line. These are 45 starters are first round drafts. Picks. Is it finally time that they put it all together and become one of the best units in the league in that area? You would hope so, but it’s all going to depend on Trevor Penning, right? Can Penning really step it up this year? I think he’s had an up and down career. This is kind of like the last shot for him. Is the move to guard going to work? And Eric McCoy was talking about the offensive line, and he thinks this is the line. This is going to work. So we’ll see if that actually happens, but so far so good. I think *** lot of players have said Italia Eega. is on the right side, which is the right side for him. And also I think Calvin Banks Jr. has been settling in nicely, but as I just keep hammering, it’s going to all change when the pads come on. We’re going to have so much to say once we get *** better look at that. What are your thoughts on maybe the running back room, *** lot of competition behind Alvin Kamara. You just talked about fresh starts for guys like Trevor Petting. Another guy like that, Kendra Miller, *** guy who’s kind of struggled with some injuries, hasn’t really made his way here. But you also have some veteran guys in the running back room like Clyde Edwards. Cam Acres, how do you see kind of their roles all playing out with each other? Well, the one I’m most interested in is Kendrick Miller. He talked to the media recently and I thought that he was really candid. He changed his number and said, I really just wanted that all behind me. You know, as you may remember, he started training camp last year. He was hurt. He seemed to just get on Dennis Allen’s bad side. He went on IR. He didn’t really get to play and so we don’t know what we’ve seen from Kendra Miller. I still think it’s Alvin Kamara’s group and, you know, Alvin Kamara, his team. Right now, but I’d love to see more from Miller and see, you know, if he can just take this momentum and run with it. I guess lastly, what changes when pads come on tomorrow? What are you able to see more of this team when this does get *** lot more physical? Well, the big thing is the offensive line. There’s only so much they can do right now when they don’t have pads. Maybe you’re evaluating their footwork, but no one is really, truly giving you *** good evaluation of the offensive line. I think that does apply to the defensive line *** little bit. But also, you know, it’s just kind of putting everything in perspective right now you might see *** quarterback take off running and he scores *** touchdown, but first of all, they’re not allowed to be touched, and second, because, you know, of the lack of pads, it’s just *** totally, it’s *** totally different matter. So now it kind of marks the next phase of training camp and eventually we’ll get to see some live tackling, not tomorrow but hopefully soon. All right, Kat, thank you. I appreciate your insight as always.
SAINTS ANALYSIS: Kendall Duncan talks with ESPN’s Katherine Terrell about week 1 of training camp
Updated: 5:12 PM CDT Jul 27, 2025
The New Orleans Saints have completed four practices as training camp heats up.On Sunday, the Black & Gold were forced inside to complete practice as the heat became unbearable and unsafe. On day four, Spencer Rattler was working with the 1’s and got a lot of reps in. Rookie QB Tyler Shough was with the second team and Jake Haener the third team.Taysom Hill was on the sidelines getting work in with a trainer. It’s the first time he’s been seen moving around since his injury. The do-it-all tight end tore his ACL last season.The Black & Gold will be in pads for the first time on Monday.
NEW ORLEANS —
The New Orleans Saints have completed four practices as training camp heats up.
On Sunday, the Black & Gold were forced inside to complete practice as the heat became unbearable and unsafe.
On day four, Spencer Rattler was working with the 1’s and got a lot of reps in. Rookie QB Tyler Shough was with the second team and Jake Haener the third team.
Taysom Hill was on the sidelines getting work in with a trainer. It’s the first time he’s been seen moving around since his injury. The do-it-all tight end tore his ACL last season.
The Black & Gold will be in pads for the first time on Monday.