From Fox 40, here is an update on how things things went this morning with the offense and defense, respectively.
9:01 a.m. The team is all out on the field and after working out on the upper level grass fields yesterday, they have moved to the lower level grass field this morning. This is the field that was not in good enough condition to be used last year but looks great now.
9:06 a.m. The offense is going through some half-speed run throughs. You can see both Drew Brees and Coach Payton giving a lot of instruction to Jeremy Shockey as to where the right spots to line up are.
9:19 a.m. Stretching time. Yesterday morning Marques Colston was very limited in his activity but he's out here in full pads and has taken part in all the light drills so far.
9:33 a.m. One of the more vocal coaches you'll hear on the practice field, minus Ed Orgeron, is wide receivers coach Curtis Johnson. He's got a lot of work to do with one proven star at the position and a host of young, talented but unproven guys coming up. If he can turn Robert Meachem into a solid #2 option and maybe bring along Adrian Arrington, then the Saints could be unstoppable.
9:46 a.m. The QB's and receivers are together working on routes and looking very smooth. I was about to say I haven't seen a ball hit the ground in five minutes, but veteran David Patten just let one drop to the turf and Meachem had one slide off his fingertips.
9:50 a.m. Patten just made up for the drop with a one-handed snag while going out of bounds.
9:55 a.m. In one-on-one drills Robert Meachem just manhandled Randall Gay and got free for a deep ball. Patten was up quickly to congratute Meachem. Those two have been working together quite a bit in the off-season. One play later the first minor injury occurred as rookie Carlos Robinson pulled up lame while running a pattern. Robinson tried to stretch it out but is walking off the field right now, it could be as simple as a cramp but we'll keep an eye on it.
And here is whats new with the defense.
8:55 AM The Special Teams unit is working on the field.
9:08 AM Josh Bullocks and Mike McKenzie still aren't off the PUP (physically unable to perform) list. Both are on the field walking through practice drills.
9:14 AM Mark Simoneau is still working with the first team defense over Jonathan Vilma. That shouldn't last much longer though.
9:36 AM Secondary coach Dennis Allen is running through a few tackling drills with the corners.
9:41 AM On a sidenote, Saints owner Tom Benson and his wife just arrived to check out practice, much to the delight of some fans.