Observations from the New Orleans Saints training camp practice on Sunday, Aug. 23, from the indoor football facility at the Ochsner Sports Performance Center:
- 1-2 PUNCH: Quarterback Taysom Hill returned to practice Sunday, as a first-time father. Taysom and his wife, Emily, welcomed their son, Beau Nixon Hill, into the family Saturday. Then, Sunday, Taysom observed his 30th birthday.
- SUNDAY BEST: Unlike the rest of the team, kicker Wil Lutz and long snapper Zach Wood were wearing white game jerseys in practice, complete with their names on the back. Everyone else wore the standard practice jerseys – black jerseys for defense, white for offense, red for the quarterbacks – with numbers, but no names.
- CEEDY DUCE: Defensive back C.J. Gardner-Johnson, who announced on social media that he now would like to be called "Ceedy Duce," looks like he has star qualities. He showed it last year, as a rookie, and he has picked up where he left off in this training camp. The latest example: During a difficult drill Sunday – two-on-two (two receivers against two defensive backs, with the receivers stacked and running varying routes, some of them rub routes), inside the 10-yard line – Ceedy came up with an interception and with a pass breakup. He anticipates well, he's aggressive, and he's got the athletic ability to back it up.
