WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W. USA Soccer Gear .Va. -- Drew Brees stood on the sideline throughout the Saints first scrimmage of training camp on Saturday, resting a strained abdominal muscle on his left side and likely watching with envy as his backups cashed in on the big-play potential of rookie receiver Brandin Cooks. "Hes explosive and hes a guy that, if you can get the ball to him in space, he has a chance to give you some run after the catch -- and he did that," coach Sean Payton said of Cooks, New Orleans first-round draft pick. "Youve just got to keep working with him on a lot of the nuances and specifics of the passing game, but it was good to see him make a few plays." Cooks racked up more than 100 yards receiving on six catches. His highlights included a twisting, falling catch along the sideline of Ryan Griffins deep pass. Cooks beat veteran cornerback Patrick Robinson on the play, which gained about 40 yards to the 1-yard line. Later, Griffin found Cooks along the sideline, and the receiver stopped suddenly to elude defensive back Rod Sweeting before sprinting nearly 30 yards down the sideline to the end zone. He also had long returns of both a punt and kickoff. The Saints did not make Cooks available after the scrimmage, but teammates unequivocally praised the rookies performance. "Hes electric," Saints career receiving leader Marques Colston said. "He can run all the routes and hes a big-play guy. ... Hes a guy that comes to work every day with the right mindset and I think thats why hes able to be as productive as hes been -- and I dont really see a change in that coming." Saints defenders agreed. "Obviously, today we were going against our offence, so I was quite upset, but its an amazing thing to watch," outside linebacker Junior Galette said. "Hes everything that we expected him to be so far." "I see that hes zero to 60 real fast. Thats why we took him with the first-round pick," inside linebacker David Hawthorne said. "Hes a young guy with a heck of a lot of potential." Also scoring touchdowns were tight end Jimmy Graham (on a short pass from Luke McCown), as well as running backs Mark Ingram, Travaris Cadet and rookie Derrick Strozier. Ingram scored on a 5-yard run, while Cadet used a hard cutback to his left to score from roughly 25 yards out. Strozier ran in a sweep from about 10 yards. New Orleans running game, which ranked 25th in the NFL last season, thrived in the scrimmage. Ingrams day included a long run through the middle. Right tackle Zach Strief said he can sense the chemistry between the offensive line and ball carriers improving. "Guys are more comfortable with it," Strief said. "The more confident you are in what you are in what youre doing, the faster youre going to play. And thats the key to this game, you know, how fast can you make the right decisions. ... There were some good creases there." A crowd of more than 4,200 fans filled stands and an embankment along the Saints picturesque training camp fields at The Greenbrier resort in the Allegheny mountains. Some could be heard expressing disappointment when they realized they would not get to see Brees play. Brees was disappointed as well, Strief said, but the star quarterback is expected to recover quickly. "I know its really hard for Drew to stand there and not be in pads and not be with his guys," Strief said, a playful smirk emerging as he continued to speak. "We do a lot of hugging and make sure hes feeling OK. Ive rubbed his obliques a few times. Im sure thats helped. ... The great thing about Drew -- you know hes going be in the training room twice as much as anybody, and hes going to get himself right." Notes: Beside Brees, others sitting out the scrimmage included CB Champ Bailey, S Jairus Byrd, G Ben Grubbs, WR Kenny Stills, NT John Jenkins. While Payton has declined to discuss specific injuries in training camp, he said Bailey should be back soon, adding he doesnt "think its anything serious." ... WR Joe Morgan, trying to make a comeback from a serious knee injury that sidelined him all of last season, saw limited action and made a catch. ... Newly acquired S Marcus Ball had an interception of McCown. Custom USA Soccer Jerseys . Raymond, 31, started 15 regular-season games for the Stamps in 2013, racking up 51 tackles. He also returned two kickoffs for 79 yards including a 61-yarder. USA Soccer Store . -- Arizona coach Sean Miller rose from his seat every time Roberto Nelson touched the ball and yelled "Shooter!" He could have been talking about his own team, too. https://www.cheapusasoccer.com/ . Monta Ellis had 30 points and nine assists, Nowitzki was another of seven Dallas players in double figures with 11 points and the Mavericks beat the Los Angeles Lakers 123-104 Tuesday night.Toronto - Toronto FC and the Columbus Crew will square off at BMO Field on Saturday in the second Trillium Cup match of the season. TFC was victorious in the first meeting between the two sides with a 2-0 win at Columbus, but the result sparked a run of three straight defeats for the Canadian club. You can catch all the action on TSN and TSN Radio 1050 beginning at 5pm et/2pm pt. The Reds appear to back in form though, managing four points from their last two league matches. They most recently came back twice to get a point form a 2-2 draw at Sporting Kansas City. It was a tremendous point for Toronto given that the team was without several key players due to international duty. The Reds were also reduced to 10 men in the match as Steven Caldwell was issued a straight red card in the 63rd minute. "We had three of our starting midfield out, so we had a lot of absences," TFC head coach Ryan Nelsen said after the match. "We had three starting players out in three different positions and (SKC) had two out. So everybodys made (a deal) about their injuries and weve got a few out as well. Since the start of the season weve only had to pick a starting 11, the actual starting 11, once." Toronto will look to get Gilberto going this season. He has logged 10 consecutive starts but is still searching for his first goal with the club. "Weve got to pick (Gilberto) up," Nelsen said. "Weve all been through it as players and weve all been through it inn jobs. USA Soccer Jerseys 2019. And when you move to a new country like that its very difficult, and we forget hes only 24. "We know how good of a player he is and its our job to pick him up and obviously get his confidence up and get him going and it will. Maybe we could get a penalty one of these days and he can get on the scoreboard." Like Toronto, Columbus has taken four points from its last two games. After an enthralling 3-3 draw with the Portland Timbers, the Crew ran out to a 2-0 home victory over the Chicago Fire to put an end to an eight-match winless run. "I think weve been frustrated that weve been playing well and not getting the results. Were still trying to focus on the product were creating and how were playing," said Crew head coach Gregg Berhalter. "Its nice when you get results. From that standpoint were happy. I think it was a good effort. Obviously were missing some guys but we did a great job." Federico Higuain played a starring role the Crews defeat of the Fire, but the striker will miss Saturdays clash at Toronto due to yellow card accumulation. "You dont replace Federico, simple as that. We get someone on the field that can play their game and were not going to ask someone to come in and play like Federico that would be foolish of us," said Berhalter. "Were going to ask someone to come in and play to the best of their ability. Im confident that we are going to be able to get that out of someone." ' ' '