1. Quick Hits:
The New Orleans Saints held their final practice at Crawford Field in Irvine, Calif., on Wednesday. … Under partly cloudy skies and a stiff south, southwest breeze, the practice lasted just one hour and the team was in shells (helmets and shoulder pads). … The reason for the short practice was that the team announced after practice that on Thursday there will be a joint practice against the Los Angeles Rams that will be held at the Dignity Health Sports Park complex, which is the home of the LA Galaxy of Major League Soccer. The practice will begin at 11 a.m. Pacific time and last till approximately 12:45 p.m. Coach Kellen Moore mentioned that the amount of reps the respective first team offenses and defenses will get will be similar to a real game. … We will livestream the practice on NewOrleansSaints.com with myself and Team Reporter Erin Summers providing commentary throughout. … The team also announced that wide receiver Bub Means was played on season ending IR due to an ankle injury. … There were three 11-on-11 periods on Wednesday, with quarterback Tyler Shough taking first-team reps until the final period, which was an 11-on-11 final-minute situation. Spencer Rattler would quarterback that final portion, ending the 40-yard drive with 55 seconds left by throwing an interception to safety Julian Blackmon, who coincidentally ended the Tuesday practice the exact same way, by picking off Rattler.
2. Special teams:
Both kickers kicked into the wind Wednesday toward the west goal post and both were perfect. Blake Grupe and Charlie Smyth were successful from extra point, 42 yards from the right hash, and 48 yards from the left hash. Grupe is now 34 of 35 on all kicks since training camp began. … Punter Kai Kroeger held for Grupe and James Burnip held for Smyth. Both punters also got a period where they kicked into the wind. I would say with the punting Wednesday, which is still an ongoing battle, that Kroeger has a slight edge, but both will get ample opportunities live in the joint practice Thursday and in the last two preseason games.
3. Play of the Day:
A few candidates, considering how short the practice was. Tyler Shough had a nice 25-yard pass downfield to tight end Juwan Johnson. Rattler converted a beautiful pitch and catch of 25 yards to Brandin Cooks, which was Rattler's best throw of the day. Cooks leaped high in the air to bring it down, which really fired up Saints wide receivers coach Keith Williams, who let Cooks know about it as he came off the field. We have to give it to this one though. During a rare 7-on-7 drill in the past two weeks, the ball was at the 14-yard line and Rattler was at quarterback. Rattler threw a seemingly innocent pass in the middle of the field to Mason Tipton who made the catch at about the 8-yard line. As the defense collapsed on him, Tipton alertly looked to his right, where running back Velus Jones Jr. was even with him on the right sideline. Tipton threw an overhand lateral back to Jones, who caught it, and streaked untouched into the end zone for the touchdown, drawing yelps from everyone in attendance, including the media. We'll see you Thursday in Carson for the joint practice vs the Rams!
