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NEW ORLEANS, La. (WGNO) - The Saints signed Julian Blackmon in late July of 2025.
Even though he missed OTAs and minicamp… He made an impact right away
"He had a great offseason last year", head coach Kellen Moore confirms. "I think I remember his first thing was having a pick right here inside on the first day we saw him. I don't even know if he knew what our coverages actually were. He just hopped in and played ball."
"It's just one of those things that I'm just grateful I had a lot of reps, a lot of time playing in Indy, so when I came in, it wasn't too hard to play the concepts."
But Blackmon's first year in the black and gold was cut short by a shoulder injury suffered in the season opener against the Cardinals… one year after he had shoulder surgery with the Colts
"There were a couple of plays at the end where there was a second down and I made a tackle on one of the tight ends", Blackmon explains. "I was on the left side of the field and he cut up and I tackled him with my arm here. It was exposed so I could say that was probably one of the plays that got me a little loose."
Though Blackmon has an idea of "when" the injury happened, he says he didn't feel the effects until later.
"I went to dinner with my agent the night of the game, and he asked me how do you feel? I'm like, I feel great. Obviously, we lost but I feel good about it how I played in my first game back, and I woke up the next day and noticed something was wrong with my shoulder. I went in and they told me it was my posterior labrum that I had torn this time which is a completely different injury."
While Blackmon's return has taken physical strength, it has taken an equal amount of mental strength.
He's ready to make a difference on the field and provide leadership in the locker room
"I think Julian is really special and I think having him this year is going to make a huge difference because his ability to make plays on the ball and create turnovers is hard to find", says Jonas Sanker.
"I feel like mentally, I'm very locked in. It's another prove-it year. It's another contract and it's another chance for me to get out there and play a full season. It's definitely on my radar to be sharp mentally."
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