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WATCH: Saints first-round pick Trevor Pennening ejected from practice

20200517_134556by: Justin Rudolph08/03/22
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In the 2022 NFL Draft, the New Orleans Saints went out on a limb and drafted their potential left tackle of the future in the first round, Trevor Penning. So far in the Saints training camp, the rookie has shown he possesses the skill set and demeanor to become one of the best tackles in the NFL. However, that aggressive demeanor landed him on the team’s naughty list after starting a fight for three consecutive days. According to NFL reporter Dov Kleiman, Penning was kicked out of practice on Wednesday after his third fight in as many days. The video below shows the best of the rookies’ interactions from New Orleans’s first week of training camp.

In the video, you see Penning going at it with a few Saints defenders, including last year’s first-round pick defensive end Peyton Turner. On the first play, Penning slams the door on Turner’s pass rush attempt. The second-year pass rusher did not take kindly to that and proceeded to throw a punch. Later in the practice, the two go at it again, with this time Penning returning the favor.

LSU legend speaks on Penning’s actions

LSU’s legendary fullback Jacob Hester caught wind of what’s going on in New Orleans practices and chimed in on the rookies’ actions.

“I’m just telling you, don’t coach that out of him. He’s got that dawg in him, and it’s what makes him a great player, and a 1st round pick. I love it, and no he’s not going to get 15-yard penalties all the time. The tape shows that’s how he played consistently in college. #WhoDat,” wrote Hester via Twitter.

In the game of football, especially in the trenches, you have to be willing to play with emotion and aggression from time to time. And as Hester pointed out, he has a lot of fight in him. That can be hard to teach players to play with that level of intensity. However, the flip side to that ia you cannot put your team behind the eight-ball by getting called for foolish penalties in situations like that. Most football coaches will tell you that it is better to play with emotion than to play emotional. And if Penning can master that, the Saints front office may have hit another home run when it comes to drafting, picking up yet another superstar offensive lineman.