Jimmy Graham unfazed by Tennessee Titans' plan to attack him

New Orleans Saints tight end Jimmy Graham said he heard about Tennessee Titans defensive coordinator Jerry Gray's comments this week, when Gray challenged his players to deliver hard hits to guys like Graham in the middle of the field. But Graham insisted that he doesn't pay much attention to comments like that.

"It's kind of funny. I guess I haven't been in this long enough. I'm just going on my second year," Graham said. "But it seems like it has been happening a lot lately, a lot of guys have been saying things about me and about what they're going to do to me. But I don't mind. I just brush it off and take it with a grain of salt. I just prepare each week just like it was the last."

Graham, who was a basketball player for four years in college before converting to football, said he thinks people may still consider him "soft." But he said they're wrong if they underestimate his toughness.

"I'm sure he still thinks I'm a basketball player," Graham said of Gray. "But hopefully Sunday I can prove I'm a football player."

When asked if he considers all the extra attention from opponents flattering, Graham said no.

"Not really. I guess I wish it was still the beginning of the year whenever no one had any film on me," Graham said. "Unfortunately that's not the case. I just have to prepare and make sure I'm doing all the things I can do to play as well as I need to play and help this team win."

Gray was a longtime assistant under Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, who is known to encourage his own players to deliver "remember me" shots - a term that was coined by former Titans safety Blaine Bishop when both Williams and Gray were coaching in Tennessee. So Williams said he and his defensive players got a laugh out of the comments Gray made this week.

"We talked about it in our defensive room today, and a bunch of our players said, 'Hmmm, I wonder where he heard that stuff before.' So they were all teasing me about that," Williams said.



(nola.com)