Undrafted rookie Marquez Callaway wears the same number, 12, as a former Saints great Marques Colston.
“Well obviously everybody knows who he is,” Callaway said. “And coaches and players told me as soon as I got here, when they found out I was wearing number 12… I think the coaches RC (Ronald Curry) and CJ (Curtis Johnson), the receiver coaches, told me it was some big shoes to fill. But, ain’t no backing down, I'm ready to step up to the challenge. And have fun doing it.”
And much like Colston, who was also a longshot to make the roster led New Orleans his first season, did many times throughout his career, Callaway led the Saints in receiving, hauling in eight receptions for 75 yards in Sunday's 27-24 win against the Panthers.
“He played well today,” Saints coach Sean Payton said. “If he’s finding open areas, it’s probably because it’s zone. If it’s man (coverage), we are moving. We saw him have a good training camp and we have seen him progress. A handful of guys really stepped up today and played, maybe, a different role than they are used to. That is just part of the deal right now.”
Callaway was coming of the best performance of his young career, four catches for 34 yards in the Saints win against the Chargers, but saw his role greatly increase Sunday as New Orleans was without its top two receivers Michael Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders.
Sanders was a late scratch after testing positive for COVID-19 on Thursday. Payton said the team had to make several last minute adjustments to the gameplay to accommodate for Sanders’ absence but said “no one else outside of your building really cares” about the challenges of preparing for game during a pandemic.
Callaway said he went into each week preparing for anything.
“And that's what happened this week, with Emmanuel (Sanders) going down and Mike (Thomas) not being able to play this week” Callaway said. “So, just like Alvin (Kamara) said, next man up.
“You know, I think Juwan (Johnson) did a great job when he got in there, it's his first play and his first start. And I was happy for him and we just went out there and had fun.”
