Saints tight end Jimmy Graham will miss Sunday’s game. Unless he doesn’t.
But he won’t start on Sunday. Unless he does.
If the team’s goal was to create maximum confusion for the Lions regarding whether Graham will play at the Lions in Week Seven, mission accomplished. All week long, it appeared Graham ultimately would miss the contest due to a shoulder sprain suffered two weeks ago against the Buccaneers. As Sunday approached, it started to look like Graham had a chance -- or that the Saints were trying to make it look like he has a chance.
According to Adam Schefter of ESPN, Graham currently plans to play on Sunday.
Currently, the plan for Graham is to test the shoulder during pregame warmups. If all is well, he’ll test the shoulder during the game -- but not as a starter.
It keeps the uncertainty alive, and it raises the possibility of Graham being a decoy. However it plays out, it’s hard not to view the situation as a roundabout dig at the Lions for their handling of receiver Calvin Johnson’s sprained ankle. He seemed to be a decoy for a couple of weeks before aggravating the injury against the Bills. Even though coach Jim Caldwell has suggested it will take a miracle for Johnson to play on Sunday, Johnson (like Graham) is officially questionable, which means there’s a 50-50 chance he’ll play.
