New Orleans Saints running back Alvin Kamara prepared for workload, as always

Kellen Moore: 'Alvin's one of the premier players in our league. We want to utilize every aspect of that'

Jun 11, 2025 at 04:57 PM

John DeShazier

Senior Writer

New Orleans Saints players participate in Day 1 of 2025 Saints Minicamp at the Ochsner Sports Performance Center on Tuesday, June 10, 2025.

You knew Alvin Kamara would be ready because, quite frankly, when has Alvin Kamara not been ready?

So, despite being absent for OTAs and not registering an on-field appearance until the New Orleans Saints opened mandatory minicamp Tuesday, the franchise's all-time leader in rushing yards (6,779), rushing touchdowns (60), total touchdowns (86) and yards from scrimmage (10,971) showed up and displayed why, entering his ninth season, he remains a centerpiece of New Orleans' offense.

The Saints are scheduled to conclude minicamp Thursday.

From the outset, Kamara, who has totaled 1,000-plus yards from scrimmage in each of the previous eight seasons, has displayed wits that matched his skills and preparation.

That didn't change under first-year coach Kellen Moore. Kamara did his offseason training in elevation in Colorado, and came mentally prepared for the work.

"Alvin's obviously one of the premier players in our league, his ability to run the football and play in the pass game," Moore said Wednesday. "And so, we want to utilize every aspect of that.

"He's going to be a really big-time, impactful runner, running the football first and foremost. And then obviously the pass game, his ability to create matchups is going to be a huge advantage for us.

"What's really fun being around Alvin is his mental capacity is really high. He understands football at a really, really high level. He's played so much game. I really enjoy and I look forward to more and more of those conversations as we go through this, of teaming up on this thing.

"Everyone knows his impact for a number of years now and so, he'll be a big part of this."

He will, and he understands the business of why Moore is in New Orleans.

"We're in a new, kind of different energy to the team that I've kind of been on my whole career," Kamara said. "It's kind of been the same since I got here. Now, a change coming in – it's different, I've got to kind of train my mind to be like, 'I can't look at how things used to be done.' I've got to get with this. It's not hard, but two days, it's cool but we'll see during camp, when camp starts.

"I think it was needed. Obviously in this league you want to win, and we haven't been doing much of that consistently enough."

SEVENS: Wednesday's offensive work was tilted toward seven-on-seven drills, as has been the case most of the offseason. Contact drills for offensive and defensive linemen are non-starters this time of year.

"Seven-on-seven is just really the main competitive component of this thing," Moore said. "A lot of our team components were mostly in teaching sessions, more in a teaching mode where we're showing we're in the same responsibilities, we're all aligned, we understand our job. (Seven-on-seven) allows two spots to do it, our guys have been getting a ton of reps and then the physical component of that will be applied in training camp."

SITUATION BALL: New Orleans also worked in some situational opportunities Wednesday. "Second-and-short, there's a mentality there where if we can take a shot, we'll take it," Moore said. "If not, we're finding the completion.

"Third downs, especially when you play potential four-down football – when you're playing fourth downs, you've got to play third downs a little bit different. And so, there's some scenarios where you can take a completion on third down, put yourself in fourth down and we'll go for it in that situation.

"And so, guys just understanding and putting that in their mind-set of understanding what they're trying to execute."

HEAT CHECK: The Saints ably handled the elements Tuesday and Wednesday, as the temperature and heat index climbed.

"The heat is a really good component of this," Moore said. "It's a stresser. There's a lot of different ways you can stress players, stress the team. Heat is certainly one way, and so I think we've done a really good job over the last two days.

"(Tuesday) was the first time where it was really hot, and (Wednesday) you adjust, you're more used to it. I thought our guys did a really good job of going out there and just executing at a really high level."

JUST FOR KICKS: Safety Justin Reid and defensive lineman Davon Godchaux each attempted field goals at Wednesday’s practice; Reid made one of two attempts, Godchaux dribbled his effort.

Moore explained the rationale.

"There's a lot of guys who've been kickers in their past, there's a lot of guys that have been quarterbacks in their past and so, it's fun to see how it all looks," he said.

Photos: New Orleans Saints 2025 Minicamp | Day 2