For the first time since suffering a hip flexor injury early on in New Orleans Saints training camp, Marshon Lattimore was seen working with trainers on the sidelines at Tuesday's practice session.

In his absence, rookie cornerback Kool-Aid McKinstry has taken over Lattimore's duties opposite of Paulson Adebo (who has missed some time with his own injury). The rookie being able to get first team reps for a large portion of training camp is a silver lining of the injury. McKinstry is better for having the extra reps.

Lattimore went down on July 26, the third day of training camp. A couple days later, Dennis Allen called the injury concerning, but not something he was losing sleep over. Lattimore has missed a lot of time over the last two years and didn't finish the 2023 season. His injury felt like continuation of a pattern. It had a little over two weeks since Allen's comments and this is the first update we've received.

This is progress. Lattimore working to the side means he is at least getting closer to returning. It could easily be a few weeks away. The Saints may choose to hold Lattimore out for the duration of training camp out of necessity or precaution.

Seeing him work individually provides a bit of optimism around the possibility of Lattimore being available for the season opener against the  Carolina Panthers.

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This article originally appeared on Saints Wire: Marshon Lattimore begins practicing for first time since July 26 injury