NEW ORLEANS -- Saints rookie wide receiver Jordyn Tyson had barely processed the game ahead of him Sunday before his phone was ringing.
It was teammate Chris Olave offering words of encouragement.
"He was just trying to give me the confidence that I'm ready. He called me this morning. He was the first one that called me. 'Hey, you ready man?!' I was like, 'I'm ready, I'm a little nervous, but I'm ready,'" Tyson said Sunday following the Saints' 23-22 overtime win against the Cleveland Browns.
Olave, who ranks sixth in the NFL in receiving yards (734), has been eager to see what the rookie could do once he gets on the field. Tyson was expected to be a No. 2 receiver behind Olave when the Saints selected him with the No. 8 pick in the 2026 NFL draft, but a hamstring injury in mid-August derailed those plans.
Olave has had a front-row seat to Tyson's development through the first nine weeks of the season while Tyson was on injured reserve. He has been as eager as anyone for Tyson to show what he can do on the field.
"I just like his play style, the way he attacks the game. Like everybody, everybody here has seen it, just what he's able to do. He's so talented. He's super talented. I just can't wait for the world to see that," Olave said.
Tyson's debut was a mixed bag of rookie mistakes, but it was also a display of potential of what he can do with this skill set. He played 18 snaps, caught four passes for 30 yards and fumbled the ball after making his first catch.
Saints quarterback Tyler Shough found Tyson on second-and-11 with 8:11 left in the second quarter. Tyson and Olave both ran shallow crossing routes and Tyson was open when he made the catch at the 11. But as he began to go to ground, a Cleveland player came in to punch the ball out, giving the Browns the ball at their 1-yard line.
"Man, I couldn't believe it. I was like, 'god, no way I did that on my first [catch],'" Tyson said later.
Shough talked to Tyson after the fumble and would later speak to rookie Barion Brown when Brown fumbled a punt return. The message was that it was OK to be upset, but those feelings would have to wait until postgame. The Saints needed him.
"It happened," Shough said. "You can be pissed about it postgame ... but the rest of the game is still within your control.
"He was able to do that. He did a really good job. It was just a realization for him that, at all times, you've got to be aware of it."
The Saints not only went back to Tyson after the fumble, but they leaned on him in the most critical part of the game. The Saints were down 13-9 with 5 minutes left in the fourth quarter, needing a touchdown to regain the lead. On third-and-5 at midfield, Shough went to Tyson, who made the catch for 7 yards and a key first down.
The Saints followed that with a 33-yard pass to Olave on the next play, setting up their touchdown. Olave said after the game that he told Tyson, "all you can do is move forward" following the fumble, and he proved that with the big catch later.
"We're going to keep getting him the ball," Olave said. "He's one of our best players when he's on the field. You guys saw that today, especially because he made a lot of third-down catches, especially at the end of the game. But that was just a little bit that you've seen from him.
"I know he's going to ramp up as he keeps going. He's going to be a great player for us in the future."
The Saints put trust in Tyson late, giving him 13 snaps in the fourth quarter and overtime. While Tyson said he was on a pitch count, with the idea to keep him under 30 snaps, it's clear the expectation is to ramp up his participation moving forward.
"He's missed a lot of time, but what he's put into this, to put himself in the position to help contribute for this team, he's going to have plenty of opportunities moving forward," Saints coach Kellen Moore said. "I was excited to see him out there playing football again."