The appetizer portion of offseason work has been received and sufficiently digested, and New Orleans Saints Coach Kellen Moore and his staff have moved on to meatier substance during the team's mandatory minicamp, which began Tuesday on the outdoor practice fields at the Ochsner Sports Performance Center.
Minicamp will continue Wednesday with another practice open to fans.
"We've spent a lot of time through our OTA process of laying the foundation of the schemes, the concepts, and now we're starting to introduce situational football through this minicamp," Moore said.
"Talking about what a second down is – second-and-long, second-and-short – what a third down is, when they can play fourth-down football and how we've got to change according to that.
"We're introducing those phases, and then training camp will have a really heavy situational emphasis as we go."
The escalation will continue on offense with a quarterback group that has scant NFL starting experience: Second-year pro Spencer Rattler started six games as a rookie; three-year veteran Jake Haener started one game and played the first two quarters; and second-round pick Tyler Shough and free agent rookie Hunter Dekkers haven't yet taken a regular-season practice snap in the league.
"They all are on the younger side from the experience standpoint in this league, but they're hungry, they're ready, they're really, really smart football players," Moore said. "They understand it at a really high level, they have high capacity for throwing it well out here. And so I feel like they're doing everything we can ask for."
**FAN THE FLAMES:** Moore was impressed by the fan turnout and reception Tuesday. "The fan aspect of this was awesome, and it is really cool," he said of the capacity crowd. "It's impressive to see that on a Tuesday in the middle of June, it shows how special this place is."
**TRYOUT:** One of the tryout players during minicamp is running back Cam Akers, a second-round pick in 2020 who has played for three teams in five seasons and started 17 of 53 games. Akers has rushed for 2,025 yards and 13 touchdowns on 502 carries, and totaled career highs in attempts (188), yards (726) and touchdowns (seven) for the Rams in 2022.
"Cam's an experienced player, he's done a lot throughout this league and as you go through this, you're always trying to evaluate as many players as you possibly can," Moore said.
**TAYSOM SIGHTING:** Tight end Taysom Hill did not participate in drills Tuesday, but he was present. Hill continues rehabilitation from a knee injury last season.
"Taysom's done an excellent job," Moore said. "It's a challenging offseason for him just from a medical standpoint, and he's done everything you could possibly do just to put yourself in good position to be successful moving forward. And so, fired up to see him out here."