Payton cuts length of workouts

• By SHELDON MICKLES
• Advocate sportswriter
• Published: Jul 30, 2008 - UPDATED: 6:20 a.m.

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JACKSON, Miss. — In an effort to beat the blazing Mississippi heat, New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton gave his players a break Tuesday after five straight days of two-a-day workouts to start training camp.

The Saints worked twice again Tuesday, but Payton cut short a morning special teams walkthrough and also pushed back the 3:40 p.m. practice to 7:30 p.m., moving it to Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium so it could be held under the lights.

The temperature soared to 101 degrees Sunday and 100 on Monday, and more of the same was expected Tuesday —prompting Payton to make the switch. At 4:40 p.m., the temperature was 99 degrees with a heat index of 106, although storm clouds moved into the area later and cooled things off.

“The night practice gives us a little bit more of a break between practices and it gets these guys out of this heat,” said Payton. “I think we are at that point in camp where it would be a good changeup to get a night practice in the stadium.

“I think we’ve managed the weather pretty well. We’re going through a little bit of a spell here, so the changeup will serve us well.”

Backup running back Pierre Thomas said he and his teammates appreciated the timing of Payton’s gesture since they were supposed to have nine straight days of two-a-days to start camp.

“It’s a very big relief because we get a chance to get off our feet a little bit and get our bodies back,” Thomas said. “Getting out of this heat, I saw some big smiles on guy’s faces.

He said they found out the good news when they arrived for work Tuesday morning and checked the time schedule.

“At first, we were kind of confused about practicing at night,” he said. “Then, we saw the scheduled for the next day (Wednesday) and saw that schedule. There were some big smiles around.”

Oklahoma University coach Bob Stoops and several of his assistants arrived Tuesday to observe Saints practices and sit in on meetings for a couple of days.

“Our policy to college coaches is that our camps have been open and we encourage it,” Payton said. “What college coaches try to do in the spring or before they go to their two-a-days is try to make a visit, sit in on meetings and try to get something from either the defense or offense.