Trip to L.A. provides Saints with multiple evaluation opportunities

METAIRIE – NFL teams generally use preseason games to help sort out their depth chart and evaluate which players deserve the final spots on the regular-season roster.

They generally use joint practices with other teams to give their starters and primary backups useful work against their counterparts on another team.

The New Orleans Saints will have both opportunities during a several-day visit to Los Angeles that begins Wednesday.

They will practice against the Chargers on Thursday and Friday before facing them in the second preseason game Sunday.

The Saints, who began the preseason with a 26-24 victory against the Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday in the Caesars Superdome, will follow a similar routine when the Houston Texans come to town for a pair of joint practices next week prior to the preseason finale August 27 in the Superdome.

“It’ll be a challenge for a lot of guys,” head coach Dennis Allen said after the Saints returned to practice Tuesday afternoon.

The Chargers finished 10-7 a year ago and lost a wild card playoff game at Jacksonville, 31-30. The Saints defeated L.A. 27-10 in the preseason finale in the Caesars Superdome last year.

Allen said he and Chargers head coach Brandon Staley talked after that game about scheduling this week’s work.

“They’ve got some really good players on both sides of the ball,” Allen said. “They operate really well offensively and we’ll get to see what they look like with a new offensive coordinator (Kellen Moore). It should be good work.”

Allen also cited the value of being able to get out of the oppressive Louisiana heat and work in the milder elements in Southern California.

But the primary value is the competition against another team.

“I like the joint practices,” Allen said. “I feel like those are an important part of training camp, getting an opportunity to go against somebody else, see some different looks. I’m excited about having the opportunity to work against a couple of different teams so we’re going to get a lot of different looks throughout preseason. …

“When we get into those practice environments against another team you’re probably seeing a little bit more of the ones and twos in that environment and the threes probably aren’t getting as many reps. So obviously in those situations then the game becomes paramount for those guys.”

Quarterback Derek Carr, who drove the Saints 80 yards to a touchdown on his only series against the Chiefs, said he welcomed his first preseason work in four years because he’s starting over with a new team.

But he said his experience in nine seasons with the Raiders was that playing in preseason wasn’t always necessary in order to be properly prepared for the season opener. It’s unclear what his work schedule will be for the last two preseason games.

“There were some times that I didn’t play at all in the preseason, and we’d still play good in the first couple of weeks,” Carr said. “It proved to me that if you practice the right way, you can do it.

“And whenever you have (joint practices), those are better than preseason reps, because you actually get to show stuff. They show the pressures, they show different coverages, rather than what they show in the preseason (games).”

Allen won’t finalize his personnel plan for Sunday’s game until later in the week.

One new candidate for playing time is former LSU running back Darrel Williams, who signed with New Orleans on Tuesday. Williams’ arrival gives the Saints insurance after rookie Kendre Miller suffered a sprained MCL Sunday that doesn’t appear to be a long-term issue.

The Saints also are facing a three-game absence for starter Alvin Kamara to start the season because of a suspension by the NFL. New Orleans made room for Williams by releasing wide receiver James Washington.

“He’s had some success in our league,” Allen said of Williams, who played four seasons with the Chiefs but saw action in just six games with the Cardinals last season. “He had a really good workout the other day. He moved around really well. He’s a big, physical runner. We felt like he’d be somebody good to bring into the mix and see what he can do.”

Starting right guard Cesar Ruiz left practice Tuesday because of a shoulder he “banged up” in Sunday’s game, according to Allen, and Taysom Hill left because of a strained oblique. Allen said he didn’t think either injury was serious, but tests would provide a more detailed evaluation.