Fleur-de-Links, June 8: young receivers Dural, Massington impress at this week’s OTA

Word on the Street

Notes and observations from Thursday's OTA | theadvocate.com
Nick Underhill reports from this week's Saints OTA.

Travin Dural trending in right direction during Saints OTAs | NOLA.com
Former LSU wideout looks to land on 53-man roster after spending last season on the practice squad.

After Further Review: Five takes from Saints final OTA | FOX 8
Take One: Defense closes out practice strong The most intense part of Thursday’s final OTA was the two-minute drill in the final period. The defense dominated this day.

Payton believes Saints will rally around last year's stunning playoff defeat | Talk of Fame Sports Network
Sean Payton has led the Saints to the playoffs six times in 11 seasons. No playoff loss was more crushing than last year's. But he, and they, will be back in 2018.

Demario Davis: Fitting in with Saints defense "easy" thanks to potent offense | Crescent City Sports
When a free-agent defensive player goes in search of a new NFL team, one might assume his choice would be based primarily on things such as the defensive scheme and how it fits his skills. But when linebacker Demario Davis chose to sign with the Saints in March, his decision was based on something quite different.

Saints defensive end Alex Okafor ready for final push to recover from Achilles tear in time for training camp | theadvocate.com
When an NFL player suffers a debilitating injury like the torn Achilles tendon that ended Alex Okafor's season last November, he often reaches out to friends in the NFL who've been through the same pain to ask for advice.

Saints hoping Ryan Ramczyk continues exceeding expectations | NOLA.com
Ramczyk played every offensive snap as a rookie.

Denzel Ward hopes to follow buddy Marshon Lattimore's blueprint | ESPN
The Browns made Ward the fourth overall pick with the desire that he can do for Cleveland what his friend and mentor did for the Saints last season.

Lagniappe

Terrell Owens declines to attend Hall of Fame induction ceremony | Sporting News
Terrell Owens has opted to skip his own party.

Julian Edelman facing four-game suspension for PEDs | NFL.com
New England Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman is facing a four-game suspension for violating the league's policy on performance-enhancing substances.

2018 NFL schedule: Record predictions, analysis for every team | SI.com
Which teams will reach the NFL playoffs this season and who will be sitting at home? We predict the 2018 record for all 32 teams

‘High Noon’ With Bomani Jones & Pablo Torre Is Bizarre, Cinematic, Musical – But Is It Good? | The Big Lead
The early signs of High Noon with Bomani Jones and Pablo Torre are that it is bizarre, cinematic, musical. But is it going to be a success?

NFL Census - Finding the league's biggest outliers by salary, size, experience and more | ESPN
Who's the tallest (and shortest) player? What about heaviest (and lightest)? We looked at data from Week 1 of 2017 for those answers and more.

The Work To Get Josh Rosen NFL-Ready | AZCardinals.com
Over and over, it was the one term that was linked to Josh Rosen prior to April’s draft: the most NFL-ready of all the incoming rookie quarterbacks.

NFL executive VP of business operations Eric Grubman leaving the league | ESPN
Eric Grubman, the NFL's executive vice president of business operations, is leaving the league after 14 years, teams were informed in a memo Thursday.

Eagles Practice Notes: Carson Wentz continues to make progress, Dallas Goedert shows off red zone dominance | Bleeding Green Nation
Here’s what we learned on Wednesday.