Kamara, Lattimore, Hill join Saints for start of mini-camp

METAIRIE – The New Orleans Saints had their entire roster together for the first time in the offseason for the first day of their mandatory mini-camp Tuesday.

The team had about 90 percent of its players available for the nine voluntary OTAs during the last three weeks, though some came and went at various times.

The most notable additions Tuesday were running back Alvin Kamara, cornerback Marshon Lattimore and tight end/quarterback Taysom Hill.

None of the three spoke to reporters afterward. Kamara, who faces a court date on felony battery charges in Las Vegas on July 31, declined an interview request. Neither Lattimore nor Hill was present while the locker room was open to reporters for interviews.

But quarterback Derek Carr and head coach Dennis Allen were talkative.

“I just absolutely love him,” Carr said of Kamara. “Great teammate, great energy about him, and very explosive. He’s so smooth on film. You really just don’t know how good he is. Obviously you see the film, but then when you get in person … He ran a couple routes where I looked at (rookie quarterback Jake Haener) today like, ‘That’s not normal.

“Being around him just for a little bit in the building, people don’t know how smart he is at football. He knows what to see, he knows what route to run, he knows how to use his help. That combined with his athletic ability, you see why he’s had that production.”

Allen didn’t get into specifics when asked about the Saints’ preparation for the possible absence of Kamara, their most dynamic offensive player, if the NFL suspends him in relation to the court case.

“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it,” Allen said. “We’ve got thoughts and ideas in our mind in terms of how we react to whatever we’re dealing with. We’re not going to worry too much about a lot of things that we don’t really control. We’re going to focus on getting better as a football team and we’ll adjust however we need to.”

Allen said he didn’t have any sense that the case, which began 16 months ago, was weighing on Kamara.

“One of the great things about professional athletes is when they step in between the white lines they’re able to compartmentalize and focus on the task at hand,” Allen said, “and I think he’s done a great job of every time he comes out here to practice or playing a game he’s focused on the task at hand.”

Lattimore, a 2017 draft classmate of Kamara in New Orleans’ most bountiful draft in recent memory, has been one of the better cornerbacks in the NFL for six seasons, but missed 10 games last season due to injury.

“The expectation is for him to compete at an elite level,” Allen said. “He’s got that ability. I think if you ask anybody out here we need him to perform at an elite level to be the type of defense that we can be. I think that’s his expectation of himself.”

Carr recalled facing Lattimore when the quarterback was with the Raiders.

“He’s one of the top corners in the NFL,” Carr said of Lattimore. “I think what separates him is his overall competitiveness, his tenacity, his drive. A lot of guys are very talented but they don’t compete the way that he does. He’s talented and he competes that way.

“There are just certain routes you don’t throw his way. Not a lot of guys make you do that but he’s one that does.”

Hill, who’s also a special teams leader and the most versatile player on the team, got reps at both tight end and quarterback.

“He’s going to be getting quarterback work, he’s going to be getting tight end work,” Allen said. “He’ll be a move guy for us. We’ll have some of our quarterback run stuff that we do with him. We’ll work with him in the passing game, so he’ll fill a lot of different roles.”

Some players were sidelined as they rehab from injuries and some veterans were limited participants in seven-on-seven team drills.

Allen said that wide receiver/return specialist Rashid Shaheed, who didn’t participate Tuesday or in the OTA that was open to reporters last Tuesday, is limited by a groin injury.

Two wide receivers/return specialists – Lynn Bowden Jr. and Keke Coutee are participating in the mini-camp on a tryout basis, though Allen said their presence wasn’t related to Shaheed’s status.

“Certainly their value as a returner is part of why we brought them in here to evaluate,” Allen said.

Former Saints wide receiver Ted Ginn Jr. was at practice, working with the team’s wide receivers. Allen said it’s undetermined whether Ginn will have a role on the staff for training camp, which begins in late July.

The Saints’ remaining mini-camp practices Wednesday and Thursday will be open to the media, but not the general public. After that the players will be off until the start of training camp.