During the final 7-on-7 period of their OTA practice Wednesday afternoon, New Orleans Saints quarterback Tyler Shough dropped back, surveyed the field and ripped a throw toward the right hash to an open receiver.
It was not Chris Olave, who was not present. Nor was it first-round pick Jordyn Tyson, who was there but not participating as the team eases him into regular on-field work after he injured his hamstring during his final college season.
Instead it was the man who hadn’t played ball in a year hauling it in. Ja’Lynn Polk, wearing No. 13, had beaten the coverage easily and made the play for a big gain.
“It was just friendly,” said Polk, describing the throw from the receiver’s perspective. “Seeing the ball in the air, that was awesome.”
It had been a long time coming, too.
Polk represents an interesting project for a team that has revamped its cast of offensive playmakers in the past nine months. Once a highly touted prospect coming out of the University of Washington, Polk struggled in his 2024 rookie season with the New England Patriots, then missed all of last season with a shoulder injury that required surgery.
New England effectively gave up on Polk, sending him and the final three years of his inexpensive rookie contract plus a future seventh-round pick to the Saints in exchange for a sixth-rounder.
He was one of three young receivers the Saints acquired last season, with the others being Devaughn Vele (by trade) and Trey Palmer (via waivers). Since, New Orleans has continued to fortify its offense. It drafted receivers Tyson and Bryce Lance along with tight end Oscar Delp, and it signed high-profile free agents such as running back Travis Etienne and guard David Edwards.
Though he’s been with the team since September while rehabbing his injury, Polk is part of that equation. It had been a long time since he had been able to make a play like he did in practice Wednesday, but he said the “hunger never left” him while he endured the disappointments of his first two seasons.
And while there is suddenly a lot of competition for the football in New Orleans — as things currently stand, Polk is at best fourth or fifth in the offensive pecking order — he sees this as a positive.
“(The hunger is) never gone. It’s always there, it’s always going to be there,” Polk said. “And a lot of these guys, pretty much everybody in here, is hungry as well.
“We’ve got a big old plate, and everybody is going to have the opportunity to go out there and eat.”
The shoulder injury that erased Polk’s 2025 campaign is, hopefully, a thing of the past. He praised the training staff for making him feel like himself again throughout the rehabilitation process and said “everything is great” now in respect to his body.
He welcomed the opportunity to come to New Orleans, which brought him closer to his hometown of Lufkin, Texas. But he mostly stayed in New Orleans this offseason to work on his recovery, which also afforded him the opportunity to get a head start on refining his connection with Shough.
That may be paying dividends now for both the Saints and Polk, who is grateful for a fresh slate to show what he can be as a professional.
“I feel like I’m supposed to be here,” Polk said. “For them … bringing me in here and having that trust of seeing the player I’m capable of being, it speaks a lot. I just want to go out there each and every day and show them they made the right decision of bringing me in here.”