The Saints spent the 10th day of practice indoors after Sunday night’s session at Tulane.

Monday’s practice brought plenty of action on offense and defense while the Saints focused on third-down situations, and the indoor work left a good impression on coach Sean Payton.

“I thought last night was one of our better practices, and I felt they followed up today with another good practice on both sides of the ball,” Payton said. “So, there will be a little time now where they’re off. We’re kind of into our Tuesday off day and kind of go from there.”

The Saints are picking a good time to build momentum with strong showings in practice, of course.

The team kicks off preseason action Friday night by hosting the Minnesota Vikings at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, and has Tuesday off before returning to practice Wednesday.

Here are Monday’s observations:

PARTICIPATION

Fullback Michael Burton, running back Matthew Dayes, wide receiver Keith Kirkwood, tight end Garrett Griffin, tight end Alize Mack, left guard Andrus Peat, offensive lineman Ethan Greenidge, defensive lineman Wes Horton, defensive back TJ Green and punter Thomas Morstead were not observed on the practice field.

Wide receiver Emmanuel Butler, who has missed time since leaving the fifth day of practice last week, was observed on the sidelines taking in practice. Butler wore his No. 17 jersey but didn’t have a helmet.

Defensive lineman David Onyemata and wide receiver Deonte Harris participated in the stretching and conditioning portion of practice in full uniform but were not on the field for team drills.

Saints veterans' days off laid out before training camp even begins, Sean Payton says Saints starting defensive end Cameron Jordan took off his pads soon after Sunday's stretching period at Tulane was over. Saints wide receiver …

Left tackle Terron Armstead, defensive end Cameron Jordan, wide receiver Ted Ginn Jr. and safety Chris Banjo returned to practice after not working out Sunday night in a likely veteran’s day off.

Bridgewater shines

With Drew Brees taking an apparent veteran’s day off, Teddy Bridgewater had every opportunity to shine with the first- and second-team offenses.

And Bridgewater did not disappoint.

During a 7-on-7 drill, Bridgewater completed every pass and showed exceptional touch with completions on intermediary routes and long throws. One of the throws during the segment was a gorgeous effort down the seam to tight end Josh Hill, who got behind the safeties for a nice gain. Bridgewater led him with the toss.

Bridgewater also showed trust in his receivers, throwing one pass on an out pattern to Cyril Grayson before Grayson made a break for the sideline.

His best throw, though, is saved for late.

Can't see video below? Click here.

Mentorship times

Brees participated in stretching with a baseball cap, signaling he wasn’t going to practice, but he certainly made his presence felt by being a coach on the field to the wide receivers.

After the wideouts ran routes during 7-on-7 or 11-on-11 drills, Brees could be seen talking to the group and showing them how to run their routes with his hands.

He’s a future Hall of Famer for a reason.

Hampton … again

Through the past three days, it’s been extremely difficult to ignore rookie safety Saquan Hampton, whom the Saints selected in the sixth-round of the 2019 NFL draft.

Hampton came up with a leaping interception on Saturday, tipped a pass Sunday night that led to a turnover and Monday made yet another athletic play on a ball that was almost picked off during an 11-on-11 drill.

On the play, Hampton moved up from his safety position and arrived just as the ball was thrown to recover. While he didn’t record the turnover, he did disrupt the pattern and knock the ball away.

It’s safe to say that the 6-foot-1, 206-pound Hampton is emerging to legitimately compete for a roster spot.

Brown blows it up

Defensive lineman Malcom Brown has made his presence felt during training camp as a disruptive interior force, and he stood out during a running drill against the first-team offense on 11-on-11s.

At the snap of the ball, the Saints offensive line started moving to the right. Brown went with the flow, then moved up the field against the blockers, penetrating enough to push them back and opening a hole.

Linebacker Demario Davis shot the hole and stuffed the running attempt for what would’ve been a loss of yardage. Davis, though, knew why he made that play and immediately sought out Brown to give him a congratulatory high-five.

At some point, the Saints will have Brown and Sheldon Rankins, who continues to rehab from an Achilles injury, patrolling the inside.

Saints coach Sean Payton on weekend mass shootings: 'It just keeps repeating itself' The country mourned two separate mass shooting incidents over the weekend, which claimed the lives of 22 people in El Paso and nine people in …

Play of the Day

The shooting of video is not allowed when the Saints practice indoors, but Bridgewater’s deep connection to tight end Jared Cook during an 11-on-11 drill qualified for a highlight reel.

Cook took off down the seam, getting behind linebacker A.J. Klein with the safeties split. Bridgewater immediately spotted Cook come open and lofted a pass down the middle of the field to a sprinting Cook, who didn’t have to break stride or adjust to the ball. It just fell in his hands, and Cook had nothing but green in front of him en route to the end zone.

The back end of coverage watched Cook score and someone on defense yelled out an expletive in frustration.

Meanwhile, former Saints quarterback Bobby Hebert made a correction from an earlier statement. Bridgewater had a gorgeous throw over the weekend, prompting Hebert to say that was Bridgewater’s best pass of training camp.

After today’s deep connection with Cook, Hebert walked up to the media area and proclaimed, “Now, that was Bridegewater’s best throw of camp.”