WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS - The New Orleans Saints' tour of duty at The Greenbrier came to an end Thursday with a shared practice with the New England Patriots for the second straight day.
Most Saints players said that while they enjoyed their three-week stay here, they were ready to get back to New Orleans and, more specifically, their own beds.
But if what Saints coach Sean Payton hinted at on Thursday is true, New Orleans players had better get used to coming to West Virginia for a long time.
New Orleans is in the second year of a three-year contract to hold its training camp at The Greenbrier and an extension on that deal could be forthcoming.
"I think [an extension] is going to happen fairly soon here, and yet it's not a focal point right now because of where we're at," Payton said before practice. "The setup for us facility-wise, it works. But the real reason this whole thing flows so smoothly is because of the people. For us to be able to come up here for these three weeks and now head back to New Orleans [today] and get acclimated to a different climate - that extension and all of those other things is coming sooner than later, but right now our focus is what we're doing with New England."
What the teams did Thursday was similar to Wednesday's practice. Units on both teams broke into drills, both intrasquad and against each other, before situational scrimmages ended the practice in front of a large and Patriots-partisan crowd.
New England quarterback Tom Brady may have had the best day of all and certainly garnered the loudest cheers as he threw for five touchdown passes in New England's first set of plays, including two to tight end Rob Gronkowski and one to Chris Harper on three consecutive plays. Matthew Slater and Josh Boyce were also on the receiving end of Brady touchdown throws.
Brady didn't speak to the media on Thursday. The four-time Super Bowl champion and sure-fire Hall of Famer is involved in an appeal of the four-game suspension he was handed by the NFL for his alleged role in deflating footballs during the Patriots' playoff win over the Indianapolis Colts last season.
If that appeal is not successful, or if a ruling isn't given in time, that suspension is scheduled to begin on Sept. 5.
Former Marshall and New England player Troy Brown was in attendance and working with the team over the two practices. Even with all of the distractions and controversy surrounding Brady, Brown wasn't surprised by the quarterback's focus and performance on Thursday.
"He does a great job of staying focused on his mission and that's to get better day after day," Brown said. "It doesn't surprise me that Tom is able to channel all of his attention to the detail he puts into his play. Nothing is amazing with Tom, nothing surprises me with Tom."
While Brady was firing on all cylinders, the Patriots defense slowed down the Saints attack early, forcing two straight three-and-outs to start the proceedings before Drew Brees and company settled in.
Malcolm Butler, who was the hero of last year's Super Bowl with an interception on the goal line to seal the Patriots' win over the Seahawks, had a bit of a rough go on Wednesday but bounced back strong on Thursday as he continued to battle with the Saints' top receivers, Brandin Cooks and Marques Colston.
Butler is in his second season after being signed as a free agent out of West Alabama and is determined to not let his career be defined by one great play.
"You win some and you lose some," Butler said. "I came out today and tried to redeem myself, even the great ones have bad days. It's all about learning, moving forward, getting better and competing. I got better as a player over these past couple of days."
The teams established some familiarity over the two days and steered clear of any altercations that have marred joint practices elsewhere in the NFL this week, primarily fights between the St. Louis Rams and Dallas Cowboys as well as the Washington Redskins and Houston Texans.
The squads haven't quite seen the last of each other either as they will play on Saturday in each squad's second preseason game.
Both the working relationship between the teams and the venue at The Greenbrier seemed to be overwhelming positives from all sides.
"I can't say enough about The Greenbrier facility," Patriots coach Bill Belichick said. "We haven't had a chance to enjoy the many amenities that they have here. Personally, I'm looking forward to coming back at a different time. This place is beautiful, it's awesome and they've been very accommodating.
"All in all we expected this week to be good and it has been."
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Brown's perspective on Brady was especially insightful considering he was with the Patriots from 1993-2007, covering the year Brady was drafted in 2000 and during the early years as the quarterback found his way into the starting lineup.
On Thursday, Brown was more of an ambassador, welcoming the media to West Virginia and discussing what it was like to see two NFL teams practicing in the Mountain State.
"Wish it would've happened when I was playing, could've had a bunch of family here and friends and everything," Brown said. "It is great. You've got to tip your hat to [Greenbrier owner] Jim Justice for doing a great job and building a great facility. You see some pro teams that when I played didn't have stuff this great to work with. The field is in great condition, players have everything they want, the hotel is in great condition and anything you want in the hotel he gets it done. The Saints have a great home in West Virginia."
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As usual, there were several dignitaries in attendance on Thursday including Justice, Jerry West, Randy Moss and pro golfer Bubba Watson.
Watson made his own parking spot, leaving his truck in the grass outside of the field, and was seen competing with Brees and the rest of the Saints quarterbacks in a throwing competition at the conclusion of practice.