There's 'no BS' to Derek Carr's leadership approach

There's 'no BS' to Derek Carr's leadership approach

Good morning, and welcome to the August 1 edition of the Saints Insider newsletter. Hope you all approach this day like Jimmy Graham approached Troy Pride at practice yesterday, and by that I mean with vigor.

Derek Carr's leadership language

Here's one of the many tough things about playing quarterback: Not only is everyone counting on you to be at the top of your game because you're the most important player on the team, but everyone also automatically looks your way for some form of leadership.

I liked the way Saints quarterback coach Ronald Curry put it when I asked him about the subject: "When you’re QB1, don’t wait around. Guys are waiting (for you to lead). … That’s how guys are programmed.”

So, how does Derek Carr go about getting a group of 89 other players to follow his lead when he's never played with the vast majority of them? I asked a bunch of his new teammates for their take on it, and it pretty much boils down to this: Carr is no phony.

Hello, Adebo

After taking Sunday off, the Saints were back on the practice field Monday morning for their first fully padded day of training camp.

Even though it was a short practice, there were plenty of notable things to take away from the session, and chief among them was the play of cornerback Paulson Adebo, who asserted himself with a strong performance in a one-on-one period.

This Saints Insider's quick take: Adebo's play suffered last season after a training camp injury lingered into the season, but if he's right, he is a tough, physical presence on the outside. There's a lot of time to go in training camp, but he is at the very least running stride-for-stride with Alontae Taylor for the starting outside corner job.

Also: Jimmy Graham tried to bowl over one of his teammates in his first fully padded practice in a long time. It was fun to watch the 36-year-old mix it up, and that's as good a reason ever to remind y'all to read Rod Walker's story on why New Orleans was the only place he wanted to be.

Another lineman down

Less than a week after losing veteran offensive guard Trai Turner for the season, offensive guard Andrus Peat left Monday's practice session early with what coach Dennis Allen described as a quad injury.

Allen didn't elaborate much on the injury, but he did make it sound as though Peat's injury would not be of the season-ending variety. Still, this is an important training camp for Peat, who is not guaranteed a starting job.

AK to NY

My esteemed colleague Jeff Duncan reported over the weekend that Alvin Kamara will soon travel to New York for a face-to-face meeting with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell to tell his side of the story from the events outside of a Las Vegas nightclub last February.

Kamara will probably face some sort of discipline from the league, but the team hopes an in-person visit might lessen some of the time he has to spend away from the team.

Time will tell on that front.

We've got plenty more for you over at NOLA.com. We're having a blast bringing you the best coverage we can from Saints training camp, so thanks for coming along for the ride.

Cheers,

Luke Johnson