Receiver Michael Thomas appears ‘back,’ and on track to open regular season for New Orleans Saints

NO JAMEIS: Quarterback Jameis Winston returned to practice on a limited basis (no team drills) Tuesday for the first time since injuring his foot on Aug. 8, and was limited again Wednesday. He will not play in Friday’s preseason game.

“Our plan was to go through a little bit of the same deal that we did yesterday,” Allen said on Wednesday. When asked if it was possible that Winston would play against the Packers, Allen said, “No, I don’t think so.”

ROOK SHINING: Rookie receiver Chris Olave has had his share of standout moments during training camp, and had more of them during Wednesday’s joint practice.

“He caught a deep ball today, which was outstanding to see,” Allen said. “What I’ve seen out of him the last couple of days, I’ve seen some speed, I’ve seen some transition at the top of the route and I’ve seen him catch the football. I thought he took a step forward in these last two practices.”

SHORT DAY: Practice wasn’t nearly as productive for one of Olave’s teammates at receiver. Jarvis Landry was involved in a dust-up and was dismissed from practice for the day. Allen and the staff haven’t been bashful about cutting practice short for players who’ve lost composure, the most prominent being rookie offensive tackle Trevor Penning, who was involved in post-whistle skirmishes for two straight days before being run off after a third consecutive shoving match.

DINGED LINE: Right tackle Ryan Ramczyk was held out of Wednesday’s practice after participating Tuesday. So, for the start of practice, left tackle James Hurst shifted to right tackle and Penning opened with the starters at left tackle.

Hurst had to leave practice early (foot injury) and while Penning also left and missed a couple of reps, he returned. Rookie Lewis Kidd manned the other tackle spot.

“We got a little light on the offensive line today,” Allen said. “They’ve got a really good front, so it led to some challenges in terms of protection. But I thought our guys fought, I thought our guys battled through….