The New Orleans Saints’ joint practice with the Dallas Cowboys in Oxnard had plenty of fireworks, but the cleanest football belonged to Tyler Shough and Chris Olave.
That didn’t stop the session from turning into a mess at times. Saints center Erik McCoy was in the middle of one of the bigger skirmishes, then launched a Cowboys helmet 15 yards downfield.
Undrafted rookie receiver Brock Rechsteiner also got into the action, with a Dallas defender’s face mask in his grip before he turned and body slammed a different Cowboys defensive back to the turf. The whole practice had that edge to it for nearly two hours.
"There's some edginess to football, and we can learn from how this one navigated," Saints coach Kellen Moore said.
Still, when the tempers settled, the Saints offense had its moments against a tough Dallas defense - and Shough to Olave was the connection that kept showing up.
On one of his final dropbacks, Shough wasted no time. He spotted Olave in the slot against rookie Caleb Downs and let it go just as Olave separated toward the middle of the field for a goal-line touchdown.
Later, Shough hit Olave in all kinds of ways: on a deep comeback to the right sideline, off play action, over the middle, and in the flat. Shough threw to him eight times and had either seven or eight completions, depending on how you score one contested play in which Olave went up to snatch a ball off Downs’ helmet and ended up cradling it between his legs.
"Just continuing to grow the trust there," Shough said. "We're going to keep building.
We're on the same page on a lot of stuff. We may have some hiccups here and there, but it's a lot of fun when we're out there and knowing what each other is thinking."
Shough was sharp beyond his work with Olave, too. He finished 18, or 19, of 23 passes, with one interception in the middle of the field after appearing to be fooled by Dallas zone coverage.
Outside of that, he was close to spotless. His second-to-last throw was a perfectly placed touchdown to tight end Noah Fant in the back of the end zone during red-zone work.
"He's going to get to learn from a few throws, but I thought his operation, his command, I thought he did a good job of manning (the offense) the whole day," Moore said.
The Saints offense started slowly, but Shough has lately looked like the quarterback who made a rookie-of-the-year push while starting only nine games last season.
There was plenty else worth noting on offense. The Cowboys’ pass rush did get home a couple of times, but the Saints’ protection looked better than it did in last week’s joint practice against the Jacksonville Jaguars. The run game also found room against Dallas, with the line opening cutback lanes that Travis Etienne, Devin Neal and Kendre Miller all used for what likely would have been explosive gains.
Miller, back from a back injury, had a couple of strong runs and worked some with the first team. Given his injury history, he may still need a big finish to camp, but Tuesday was a step forward.
Rookie wide receiver Bryce Lance kept stacking good days, catching three of his four targets from Shough. One of those grabs was the kind of play that jumps off the field, as he beat his man on a double move and hauled in a hole shot down the right sideline.
Attendance was a storyline, too. Running back Alvin Kamara left early with a knee injury, as did defensive back Quincy Riley with a groin issue. Receiver Ronnie Bell also exited early because he was overheating.
Receiver Jordyn Tyson (hamstring), running back Audric Estime (ankle), defensive back Rejzohn Wright (hip/ankle), linebacker Chris Rumph (ankle), and defensive linemen Cam Jordan (hamstring), Davon Godchaux (ankle) and Christen Miller (shoulder) were not present.
Receiver Devaughn Vele was there but did not take part in what Moore called a rest day.
Running backs Kendre Miller (back) and Devin Neal (hamstring) were back on the field. Charlie Smyth and Tanner Brown each made four of five kicks on a windy day, with Brown missing wide right from 39 yards and Smyth missing wide right from 45.
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