SmashMouth

New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton wasn't surprised that teammates voted to give the annual Ed Block Courage Award to cornerback Patrick Robinson.

But was he was taken aback by the overwhelming support.

"I want to say, in the nine years I've been here, that vote by the team was by the largest margin of votes," Payton said. "It wasn't even close."

The locker room has clearly been rooting for the fifth-year cornerback even as he fought through injuries in 2013, lost his job in 2014 and quietly clawed his way back over the last several weeks.

Robinson has played well recently and could be positioning himself for a return to the starting role he lost after a rough start to the season.

When New Orleans (4-6) plays the Baltimore Ravens (6-4) on Monday night at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, the Saints will be trying to assemble a secondary with starting safety Rafael Bush out, starting cornerback Keenan Lewis injured and Corey White, the player who took Robinson's job, struggling.

Robinson talked to reporters for the first time in several weeks on Saturday. He hadn't been hiding; players at his position seldom get noticed unless something wrong. The silence was good news.

"I guess so," said Robinson, who is a relatively soft-spoken presence in the corner of the Saints locker room dominated by the secondary. "I'm just trying to do my job. Staying focused on doing what the coaches tell me to do. And that's it."

Payton said Robinson's recent improvement has been real.

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