Saints' Brees, Shockey connect at practice

After today's morning practice, the first of the 2008 New Orleans Saints training camp, quarterback Drew Brees recounted his getting the news that the team had acquired high-profile tight end Jeremy Shockey earlier in the week.

"I was a little shocked, no pun intended," said Brees, who had thought that trade talks with the New York Giants had died down after the Saints' minicamps.

"I certainly am looking forward to the opportunity to get to know him a little bit out here and get to know him as much as we can as far as building that relationship."

The quarterback targeted Shockey on a number of occasions. In the first one, a short out route on the right side, the former Giant went down on one knee to snag a low pass from Brees and the crowd let out a modest cheer.

Shockey started the morning running individual drills with a coach and proceeded to run with the first, second and third offensive units. He also caught the last pass of the morning, a short flare to the right from Tyler Palko that Shockey took 10 yards before receiving a hard hit from linebacker William Kershaw.

(clarionledger.com)