WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.Va. -- Drew Brees stood on the sideline throughout the Saints first scrimmage of training camp on Saturday, resting a strained abdominal muscle on his left side and likely watching with envy as his backups cashed in on the big-play potential of rookie receiver Brandin Cooks. "Hes explosive and hes a guy that, if you can get the ball to him in space, he has a chance to give you some run after the catch -- and he did that," coach Sean Payton said of Cooks, New Orleans first-round draft pick. "Youve just got to keep working with him on a lot of the nuances and specifics of the passing game, but it was good to see him make a few plays." Cooks racked up more than 100 yards receiving on six catches. His highlights included a twisting, falling catch along the sideline of Ryan Griffins deep pass. Cooks beat veteran cornerback Patrick Robinson on the play, which gained about 40 yards to the 1-yard line. Later, Griffin found Cooks along the sideline, and the receiver stopped suddenly to elude defensive back Rod Sweeting before sprinting nearly 30 yards down the sideline to the end zone. He also had long returns of both a punt and kickoff. The Saints did not make Cooks available after the scrimmage, but teammates unequivocally praised the rookies performance. "Hes electric," Saints career receiving leader Marques Colston said. "He can run all the routes and hes a big-play guy. ... Hes a guy that comes to work every day with the right mindset and I think thats why hes able to be as productive as hes been -- and I dont really see a change in that coming." Saints defenders agreed. "Obviously, today we were going against our offence, so I was quite upset, but its an amazing thing to watch," outside linebacker Junior Galette said. "Hes everything that we expected him to be so far." "I see that hes zero to 60 real fast. Thats why we took him with the first-round pick," inside linebacker David Hawthorne said. "Hes a young guy with a heck of a lot of potential." Also scoring touchdowns were tight end Jimmy Graham (on a short pass from Luke McCown), as well as running backs Mark Ingram, Travaris Cadet and rookie Derrick Strozier. Ingram scored on a 5-yard run, while Cadet used a hard cutback to his left to score from roughly 25 yards out. Strozier ran in a sweep from about 10 yards. New Orleans running game, which ranked 25th in the NFL last season, thrived in the scrimmage. Ingrams day included a long run through the middle. Right tackle Zach Strief said he can sense the chemistry between the offensive line and ball carriers improving. "Guys are more comfortable with it," Strief said. "The more confident you are in what you are in what youre doing, the faster youre going to play. And thats the key to this game, you know, how fast can you make the right decisions. ... There were some good creases there." A crowd of more than 4,200 fans filled stands and an embankment along the Saints picturesque training camp fields at The Greenbrier resort in the Allegheny mountains. Some could be heard expressing disappointment when they realized they would not get to see Brees play. Brees was disappointed as well, Strief said, but the star quarterback is expected to recover quickly. "I know its really hard for Drew to stand there and not be in pads and not be with his guys," Strief said, a playful smirk emerging as he continued to speak. "We do a lot of hugging and make sure hes feeling OK. Ive rubbed his obliques a few times. Im sure thats helped. ... The great thing about Drew -- you know hes going be in the training room twice as much as anybody, and hes going to get himself right." Notes: Beside Brees, others sitting out the scrimmage included CB Champ Bailey, S Jairus Byrd, G Ben Grubbs, WR Kenny Stills, NT John Jenkins. While Payton has declined to discuss specific injuries in training camp, he said Bailey should be back soon, adding he doesnt "think its anything serious." ... WR Joe Morgan, trying to make a comeback from a serious knee injury that sidelined him all of last season, saw limited action and made a catch. ... Newly acquired S Marcus Ball had an interception of McCown. Miguel Sano Twins Jersey .ca. The NHL Play of the Year showdown kicks off with some slick moves going head-to-head with a combination of soft hands and endless patience. C. J. Cron Jersey . JOHNS, N. https://www.cheaptwins.com/662t-ryan-lam...rsey-twins.html. Alvarez hit his first career home run, pitched six innings and hurt his right hamstring while running the bases in the Miami Marlins 4-3 win over the Chicago Cubs. Martin Perez Twins Jersey . 5 Trade Deadline is drawing closer and teams will be deciding on whether to buy or sell. LaMonte Wade Jr. Jersey . PETERSBURG, Fla. ST. JOHNS, N.L. -- The Portland Pirates surged to a four-goal lead in the first period and never looked back, snapping the St. Johns IceCaps nine-game winning streak with a 7-4 decision Friday night in American Hockey League action. IceCaps forward Patrice Cormier blamed the loss on the slow start and a lack of focus early in the game, but he also said the team will move on. "It was a pretty awful start and they scored four," Cormier said. "OK, we had a bad start, who cares? The only thing we can do now is keep playing (our game). We know how to play -- dont start being selfish. "We started to chip in and chip out (the puck) and doing the little things." The IceCaps played better through the second period, leaving Cormier to believe a comeback was possible. "We knew when it was 4-2, coming into the third, that we had a chance," he said. "We were right there, it was 5-4 with 11 minutes left. I would take that any day after starting (down) 4-0." Jordan Martinook had a goal and two assists, and six other Portland skaters found the back of the net in the dominant Pirates win. Tobias Rieder and Jordan Szwarz had a goal and an assist apiece for Portland (22-29-10), while Brandon Yip, Phil Lane, Lucas Lessio, and Darian Dziurzynski also scored. Cormier, Adam Lowry, J.C. Lipon and Will ONeill replied for St. Johns (37-20-4). Rieder opened the scoring for the Pirates at the 7:50 mark of the first period, cutting across from the right faceoff dot to beat IceCaps goalie Michael Hutchinson under his blocker arm. Yip added a goal for the Pirates from the left faceoff dot, scoring on a strong wrist shot high glove at the 11:20 mark of the first period.dddddddddddd Jordon Southorn sent a slapshot from the point, which Szwarz tipped home for Portland at the 13:24 mark of the first period. The Pirates scored again, through Dziurzynski, who found the puck behind the net and scored on a wraparound, past a sprawling Hutchinson with 57 seconds left in the first. IceCaps head coach Keith McCambridge said the key to was to score one and go from there. "Youve got to look to get one," McCambridge said. " Youre in your home building and you have to build off that momentum. "We didnt have the sharpness we needed in that first period. We knew they were going to come out (hard). We were on our heels in that first period." The IceCaps found the scoresheet 5:11 into the second period, as Lowry broke into the zone and toe-dragged in the slot before scoring a high wrister. ONeill scored a slapshot for the IceCaps from the point on the power play, 7:13 into the second period. Pirates forward Lucas Lessio scored a wraparound at the 1:06 of the third period, on the power play. Cormier brought the IceCaps within two, scoring from in the slot. He spun around and roofed a wrist shot 2:09 into the third period. Lipon cleaned up a loose puck in the slot, scoring on a high wrist shot 5:18 into the third period for St. Johns, but the Pirates re-took a two-goal lead when Lane trailed in and scored in the slot at the 12:08 mark of the third period. Martinook added an empty netter for the Pirates with 36 seconds left. Louis Domingue made 26 saves for Portland. Hutchinson stopped 26. ' ' '