The Saints are used to seeing tight end Jimmy Graham make plays.
But they’re used to seeing his athleticism at work catching passes and running with them.
Graham recovered a Marques Colston fumble Sunday, which set up the game-winning field goal against the Cowboys in overtime.
But that doesn’t begin to tell the whole story.
Just two plays before Graham’s hustle play, he left the field with a dislocated right ring finger, which was put back into place. Along with a wrist injury, and with no promise of playoffs on the line, it would have been easy for Graham to stay with the trainers.
“That’s why we hustle! That’s what we do!” tight end David Thomas shouted at Graham as they left the field, via Jeff Duncan of the New Orleans Times-Picayune. “You did this! You got this win for us!”
The win moved them to 7-8, but showed a level of heart that was only occasionally evident this season.
“I didn’t think about the finger,” Graham said. “It felt like a loose ball on the basketball court, and I had to dive in and get it. I’ve been diving on hardwood since I was a little kid. . . .
“That’s just what this team does. We’ve got a lot of resolve. We’ve been through so much. We all give all we have.”
That’s a good sign for the future, assuming they get a deal done with coach Sean Payton and can build on the bits of evidence they’ve shown this year.