Saints rookie Porter Gustin is hard to miss on the practice field.

For every day of on-field work since training camp began a little more than two weeks ago, Gustin has stood out with his No. 58 jersey pulled up, leaving his midriff exposed.

But most of all, there’s the athletic shorts, which Gustin either tucks in or rolls up high, a sight that brings back memories of OP corduroy shorts or the NBA shorts of the 1980s.

“We refer to those as the Larry Bird shorts,” linebackers coach Mike Nolan said with a chuckle. “Some guys are bringing it back.”

When asked about how Gustin wore his shorts, coach Sean Payton said the players all have their individual fashion.

But then Payton could barely contain a grin before jokingly putting the blame on head equipment manager John Baumgartner.

“At first I got mad at Bum,” Payton said. “But he said those were the requested sizes.”

There’s more to Gustin than just his fashion sense on the football field, of course.

The 6-foot-5, 260-pound Gustin joined the Saints in late April as an undrafted free agent out of USC, where he played outside linebacker and totaled 21½ sacks.

Those days are over now, as Gustin has made the switch from outside linebacker to defensive end. He’s quickly becoming comfortable with the new position.

“I think defensive end has a lot of similarities to what I did in college,” Gustin said. “The outside backer is the SAM (strong side) backer here, so there are a lot of similar things. A couple of adjustments with putting my hand on the ground and a couple of other things, but I think it’s been a good transition.”

As to why he prefers to practice with his shorts up high, there’s an easy explanation going back to his high school playing days.

“I’d get really sweaty in practice and my shorts would be soaked, dripping and flapping around on my knees,” Gustin said. “I just got tired of it and I didn’t really like it, so I started tucking them up and it went from there. I did it in college, I do it now and it’s just hard to go back once you start doing it like that.”

Gustin’s practice uniform aside, he’s done his part to catch attention on the football field with his non-stop motor while working mostly with the second- and third-team defenses.

In the preseason opener against the Minnesota Vikings, Gustin tied with rookie linebacker Kaden Elliss for a team-leading 32 defensive snaps. While he had just one tackle, Gustin flashed a knack for getting off the edge with burst to apply pressure in the backfield.

Payton liked what he saw out of Gustin after reviewing the tape of the first preseason game.

“He plays with great effort,” Payton said. “He has length. He’s younger and the snaps he is receiving are invaluable. He’s someone that can pressure the quarterback. He has got long arms. It makes it difficult to block. He’s developing, and he has a ways to go.”

Defensive line coach Ryan Nielsen echoed Payton on Gustin’s motor.

“The guy loves football,” Nielsen said. “He’s all ball. He plays hard and practices hard. Everything is full speed with this guy, so that’s what you’re seeing out on the field.”

Meanwhile, Gustin has plenty of help around him as he develops. And he pointed out numerous teammates in his position group are readily available to him whenever he has questions on technique.

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The rookie also doesn’t lose sight that he could use one of the NFL’s top pass rushers as a sounding board. Gustin doesn’t hesitate to absorb knowledge from All-Pro defensive end Cameron Jordan.

“I’m asking Cam questions any time I can,” Gustin said. “Any time I can get some advice from him, I’m going to him because we all know what he’s done.”

Equipped with the advice from teammates, Gustin has goals for the rest of training camp and remaining preseason games. And he wants to ensure he is paying attention to detail, knows his assignments and constantly improves while fully embracing how to play defensive end in the NFL.

So far, so good for Gustin, as the rookie looks to make an impression on the coaching staff ahead of the regular season.

“Everything is going well,” Nielsen said. “I think he’s made some plays for us. I think that’s the right spot for him and he’s bought into everything we’re doing, and you’re seeing some success out of the guy.”