FOXBORO -- Russell Wilson chuckled as he said it, probably because he knew it sounded like hyperbole when it wasn't.
"You're going to look out on the field on Sunday," he said, "you're going to see the best tight ends in the National Football League, arguably, so it'll be pretty cool to watch."
Wilson's teammate Jimmy Graham will never have to line up against New England's Rob Gronkowski and Martellus Bennett, but they'll combine to create one of the best tight-end matchups the league will see all season. Though few players at that position approach Gronkowski in terms of his all-around impact on his team's offense, Graham certainly deserves to be in the discussion among the best in the game at that spot.
On 52 targets in eight games, Graham has caught 38 passes for 545 yards and three scores. He looked to be at his best on Monday night when he reeled in two scores -- both wildly difficult one-handed grabs -- and at one point he hurdled a Bills defender to pick up extra yardage.
Graham might not be quite at the level of where he was when he was an at-times dominant receiving tight end for the Saints between 2010 and 2014; his hurdle marked the first missed tackle he forced all season, according to Pro Football Focus. However, what he's been able to do this season coming off of a patellar tendon injury that ended his 2015 campaign has opened eyes across the league.
Among those impressed has been Gronkowski, who knows a thing or two about coming back to the field after suffering a serious injury. In 2013, his season was cut short when he was tackled low by then-Browns safety TJ Ward.
"I have a super high level of respect for Jimmy Graham, especially with what happened to him last year and the way he came back and bounced back," Gronkowski said on Thursday. "I’ve been through it a little bit too, just like him with an injury, and the way he bounced back, you’ve got to give him high praise. It’s not easy to come back from that so it’s always good to see another fellow tight end be doing super well and come back from an injury like that."
New England Patriots
Happy as Gronkowski is for his fellow tight end, he's probably hoping his teammates on the defensive side of the ball can force Graham to perform at a level slightly less than super Sunday.