With Graham limited, Saints’ WRs doing more

(AP) — Even if Jimmy Graham’s production dips while the star tight end recovers from a shoulder injury, it looks like Drew Brees won’t have much trouble finding other targets.
Recent performances by receivers Marques Colston, Kenny Stills and Brandin Cooks have left little doubt about that.
Colston and Stills are coming off of their best games of the season against Detroit’s top-ranked defense; Colston had 111 yards on six catches, while Stills caught five passes for 103 yards, including a 46-yard touchdown.
“It was encouraging last week we got the ball down the field a little bit and we had a couple of those big plays that we’ve been waiting on,” Saints coach Sean Payton said. “Part of that’s me giving them the opportunity.”
While New Orleans’ 314 yards per game through the air ranks second in the NFL, Brees relied heavily on Graham early this season. The tight end’s 376 yards and three touchdowns receiving continue to lead the club, even though he did not have a catch last Sunday against the Lions — a game in which he was targeted by Brees only twice.
“We wanted to be smart and obviously not ask (Graham) to do too much,” Brees said. “But I thought we made a lot of big plays down the field with those receivers.”
Cooks had just two catches for 23 yards against Detroit, but he has already had several games in which he was among the club’s leading receivers, going over 70 yards in a game twice in the first six outings of his career. Cooks’ 34 receptions are tied with Graham for the team lead in that category, evidence that Brees has a great deal of trust in the rookie.
“We’ve had limited time together,” Brees said of his rapport with Cooks, “and yet he’s so sharp in his ability to pick things up and we use him in a lot of different ways and he continues to amaze.”
Brees said Stills showed similar strengths during his rookie season a year ago.