"Not bad," replied Saints coach Sean Payton when asked how No. 1 draft choice Sedrick Ellis looked to the coach in his first practice since joining the team on Wednesday. "I thought we had good pressure on the passer. Until we look at the film, it will be hard to tell. It will be important that he gets acclimated quickly."

Ellis missed 12 practices while he was holding out before signing a five-year contract for $49 million.

"I'm sure he's not in the shape I wanted him to be in," said the coach. "It's hard to be to be in exactly the same shape as everybody else because it's hard to simulate what you're missing. You can try, but it's hard to do that. Until you get your pads on and start moving around in this heat and over a long period of time, it will take a while."

Ellis said his goal was to catch up with the rest of his new teammates.  Defensive line coach Ed Orgeron put Ellis though extra drills during practice. Orgeron coached Ellis at USC.

"Typically when we have a special teams break, there are some things that coaches will take players with," said Payton. "In the case of Sedrick, it's no different than with some other players that you get in here late. You're trying to bring them up to speed. That's fairly typical."

Payton congratulated Ellis on signing his contract when he reported for practice.

The Saints needed to improve their defense before they could challenge for the playoffs this season. They added more speed and athleticism.

"There was a concerted effort with how we finished to say that we have to pay attention to some positions and to improve ourselves personnel-wise through the draft and free agency," said Payton. "I don't think that's a secret. I think when it ends every year, the team that wins the championship is typically playing very good defense at that time of the season. You just go back through the last four, five, six or seven Super Bowls and I think you will find that to be the case for the most part. I think our players as a team understand that as well."

This season is big one for Payton because he's in the final year of a three-year contract and fell out of favor with some fans last season with a 7-9 record. That's why the team got Jeremy Shockey and defensive help.

Payton sees improvement in his defense. "I thought defensively we did a good job last night," said Payton. "Sometimes as an offensive coach, you might get frustrated with the practice because it doesn't go how you want it to offensively and yet, it might be a real positive, because your defense is getting better and I need to be mindful of that and be encouraged.. I think we're getting to the passer quicker. I think we're doing a good job in coverage. Guys are where they're supposed to be. If we want to get to the final game, we have to improve on defense and I've seen that improvement so far.

"We've been able to help out on defense with the additions of a couple of defensive linemen in Sedrick and Bobby McCray. We've been able to help the linebacker position with a veteran player like Jonathan Vilma and some younger players. We've been able to add a lot of competition in the secondary at corner and safety and there have been a couple of coaching changes. I think those factors combined, we are still an older team playing a lot of the same front coverages that we have in years past, but I think the effort, the intent for paying attention to detail is there. I think that's encouraging."

Shockey, Deuce McAllister and Mike McKenzie are recovering from leg surgery and aren't all full speed yet. Will they play in Saturday's scrimmage in the stadium across the street?

"All of them might play or none of them," said Payton."We still have a long time here. There's a good chance that we won't play any of those three guys."

Payton said there probably won't be any tackling on Saturday. "What I want to do is set up a scrimmage like we had two years ago with the idea it's full go, so you get a full speed rush inside," said the coach. "When it comes to the ball carriers, you try to keep them up. I think that's the approach we'll take."

Payton said the Saints might not hit full speed until the opening preseason game against Arizona next week.

"Saturday night there might be a goal line or short yardage situation where it will be full tackle," said Payton. "But I think Saturday's scrimmage will be full go and up."

SOME HITHER, OTHERS YON: Former LSU home run king Matt Clark has begun his professional baseball career with the Class A Eugene (Ore.) Emeralds. The 12th-round draft choice of the Padres, signed last week. He led the NCAA in home runs last season...Tigers coach Les Miles  said he knows people get paid to pick football, but he had to pick, he's pick his team. The coach met rapper/entertainer Snoop Dog at a Baton Rouge civic club gathering the other day. Snoop Dog, a USC fan, was wearing an LSU jersey when he made a cameo appearance...Hornets star Chris Paul  said playing in the Olympics will be the best experience in his life. "I'm playing with some of the best basketball players in the world, some of the best ever in the game," said the NBA All-Pro. He's wear jersey No. 13 in the Olympics...Bob Pettit, former LSU and NBA star, was watching a Hornets game with owner George Shinn  and told Shinn, "Tyson Chandler should rent a limousine and have Chris Paul brought to every game in the Arena." Petitt was referring the beneficiary of Paul's lob passes for easy dunks...

Saints cornerback Usama Young is having a solid training camp. Several veteran pressboxers say wide receiver Devery Henderson, currently sidelined with a hamstring pull, may have trouble lasting past the final cut...Hall of Famer Dick Butkus, hustling for Old Spice, told 300 Chicago school athletes to keep clean and avoid steroids because they can harm your heart and "shrink you testicles."...The Elmwood Fitness Center's annual golf tournament is Friday, Sept. 12 this year at the Tournament Players Club in Westwego. It's a four-person scramble and the entry fee is only $150 per player or $600 for a team. Proceeds go to the fight against childhood obesity...The Packers have offered Brett Favre several million dollars to stay away from Green Bay...Mississippians would like to see Elvis' birthday declared a national holiday...With about a week until the the Beijing Olympics opening ceremony, air quality is still a big problem. There's so much smoke in the air it looks like the inside of Willie Nelson's tour bus...

If back-to-back NCAA basketball championships and a BCS title weren't enough, Florida is the No. 1 part school in the U.S., according  to the Princeton Review, which polled 120,000 students. Ole Miss was second and Penn State third. As far as SEC pride goes, five of he conference's schools are in the top 20. Georgia was No. 7, Tennessee No. 18 and Alabama No. 19. The most :Stone Cold Sober School"? Brigham Young for the 11th straight year...My time is up. Ed Staton can be reached at edcoachstaton@yahoo.com.