New Orleans Saints rookie Chris Olave learning on the fly with new teammate Michael Thomas

METAIRIE, La. — Chris Olave's first day of New Orleans Saints rookie camp technically was Friday. The 11th overall pick in the NFL draft, however, has already spent most of the past two weeks getting familiar with his new running mate, Michael Thomas, in their shared home base of Southern California.

Thomas welcomed the fellow former Ohio State receiver over FaceTime shortly after he was drafted — and then invited Olave to come stay with him and work out.

«I couldn't turn that down,» said Olave, who spent a week and half with Thomas before flying to New Orleans for this weekend's rookie minicamp.

It wasn't the first time they had worked out together, though. Thomas shared a picture on draft night from when they had done the same thing a year ago.

«I feel like that was exactly a year ago,» Olave said. «That was cool being out there with him. And finally being on the same team is gonna be huge, I can't wait.

»He kind of showed love to me since college, so we'd text back and forth every now and then.… I feel like we have the same mindset. We both want to dominate. We're both competitors. Just when we get on the field, we turn into a different person. Just knowing him and knowing he's on the other side of the field, that's gonna make us better and make us go hard."

Olave said he likes Thomas' «dog» mentality and laughed when he said he has seen it up close over the past two weeks.

«I see it, man. I see the way he works,» Olave said. «If he drops a pass, he's punting the ball, he gets mad. But that's who you want around you. I feel like that's gonna make you better. He's gonna call you out on your b.s.

»So I like Mike as a teammate. Even as a person, I understand him, where he comes from. I see why he goes so hard."

Olave