Jimmy Graham, Harry Douglas Injury Updates
The New Orleans Saints are finally back on track, and the catalyst for their resurgence was a Week 8 Sunday Night Football win over the Green Bay Packers, in which the Saints completely dominated the Packers in all facets of the game. Mark Ingram took full advantage of arguably the NFL’s worst run defense, while the defense, more specifically the pass rush, took full advantage of Aaron Rodgers’s hamstring injury and subsequent inability to escape the high amount of pressure his line was allowing. The Saints then followed that up with an easy Thursday Night Football win over the rival Carolina Panthers, so they effectively changed the course of their season in a few days by getting back to .500.
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Star tight end Jimmy Graham is arguably the second-most important player on the team behind star QB Drew Brees, and he recorded 12 receptions and two touchdowns in the Saints wins over the Packers and Panthers. Per ESPN’s Ed Werder, Brees stated that Graham was still suffering from the ill-effects of a significant shoulder injury, and it’s a testament that Graham’s toughness can never be overlooked. The San Francisco 49ers need to be worried, especially with Patrick Willis out for a third straight week, since Brees stated that Graham is “as good as he’s seen in some time”.
Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Harry Douglas is active today, but that was fully expected. He played in Week 8 against the Detroit Lions and had time to rest up before facing the rival Tampa Bay Buccaneers today thanks to the team’s Week 9 bye. Douglas caught three passes for 42 yards against Detroit, and it will be interesting to see how many targets he gets against the Alterraun Verner-less Bucs, who will find it difficult to find someone competent to match up with Douglas. He is a solid wideout who hauled in 85 passes last year thanks to injuries to Julio Jones and Roddy White, which cleared the way for him to get those opportunities.