Left tackle Trevor Penning hasn’t been involved in any fights at Saints training camp this summer, but he’s still caught the eye of quarterback Derek Carr.
Penning had multiple scraps with teammates during his rookie season, but said he knows he has “to keep my teammates safe and play smart” in practice. While doing so, Penning is still playing with enough edge that his physicality has made an impression on his new teammate.
“He’s a very violent individual,” Carr said, via the team’s website. “He wants to be physical, he wants to assert his dominance in the run game, in the pass game, all those kinds of things. Cool thing too is, Cam [Jordan] came up to him, was talking to him about something after our set, and you hear him like, ‘Oh, yeah, yeah, I got you. That makes sense.’ So as aggressive as he is, he’s also willing to learn and grow as a player. I’m excited about him. He’s a different cat, but you don’t want everyone to be normal in the front when they’re protecting you.”
Penning’s scrappiness was mitigated by his lack of availability as a rookie. He missed 11 games with foot injuries and getting that under control will be essential to Penning’s ability to show his full range of skills on the field.
