Saints sorting out defensive end position.
METAIRIE, La. (AP) — Saints training camp opened with uncertainty over who'll help All-Pro defensive end Cameron Jordan bolster the pass rush from the edges.
Alex Okafor, Marcus Davenport and Trey Hendrickson appear to be the top candidates for the other starting end job, but the only one of those players who is a proven commodity is coming back from a significant injury. The other two are inexperienced.
Okafor missed the last five regular season games and playoffs last season with a torn Achilles .
Hendrickson is entering his second season, but played only in a reserve role as a rookie and missed four games with various injuries.
The 6-foot-6, 265-pound Davenport was seen as a gamble — albeit with potentially significant upside — as a first-round pick out of UTSA last spring.
After the first padded practice of camp Saturday, defensive coordinator Dennis Allen offered a cautious evaluation of the progress Davenport has made since his arrival at Saints headquarters nearly three months ago.
"I've seen some improvement out of him. He's still got a long way to go," Allen said. "He needed to get bigger and stronger — and he did that during the offseason program. And now, it's about just continuing to work on his fundamentals, his technique."
During 11-on-11 drills Saturday, Davenport burst into the backfield for a virtual sack on Drew Brees. Defenders are ordered not to touch quarterbacks during practice, so Davenport pulled up and stood next to Brees, who seemed to instinctively brace himself before trying to salvaging the practice snap with a throw.
Davenport downplayed the isolated success.
"It really doesn't mean nothing. I've got to do it consistently," he said, noting that on a subsequent snap, "I got thrown to the ground. So I still got to work on my hands and leverage."
Davenport has been lining up often against starting left tackle Terron Armstead, the Saints' second-highest-paid offensive player. The easygoing rookie appears to have embraced the challenge and laughs off moments in which Armsted has put him on the turf.