#ben watson

New England Patriots (24) vs. Buffalo Bills (17(

When journalist Ben Watson returned to the United States from an assignment in Denmark, he handed his passport to a U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer. Millions of airline passengers go through this routine every day. Watson, however, had a slightly different experience than usual:

CBP officer, holding Watson’s passport: What do you do?

Watson: Journalism.

CBP officer: So you write propaganda, right?

Watson: No.

CBP officer: You’re a journalist?

Watson: Yes.

CBP officer: You write propaganda, right?

Watson: No. I am in journalism. Covering national security. And homeland security. And with many of the same skills I used in the U.S. Army as a public affairs officer. Some would argue that’s propaganda.

CBP officer: You’re a journalist?

Watson: Yes.

CBP officer: You write propaganda, right?

Watson, after a five-second wait: For the purposes of expediting this conversation, yes.

CBP officer, a fourth time: You write propaganda, right?

Watson, again: For the purposes of expediting this conversation, yes.

CBP officer, finally returning Waton’s passport: Here you go.

Patriots TE Ben Watson in concussion protocol after late hit by Panthers S Eric Reid in Thursday's Week 3 preseason game, Aug. 22, 2019.

Other Patriot injury from game: LB Brandon King suffered torn quadriceps and is likely out for season.

Saints tight end Benjamin Watson still looks ageless in 15th NFL season

Benjamin Watson has looked nothing like a 37-year-old during this training camp.

Fifteen years, 179 games, 495 catches and thousands of blocks into his career, Watson still has the kind of athleticism that can produce a chorus of wows from a crowd, the way his one-handed catch sent a murmur through the fans during Sunday's training-camp practice.

If it were only one play, the one-handed grab could be written off as an aging star reaching back into his past for one last flash, but Watson has made eye-popping, contested catches a normal occurrence in his return to the Saints.

He still looks like he's in the prime of his career.

"He's like the Under Armour mannequin," running back Mark Ingram said. "The oldest guy in there, but the most ripped up. ... For him to be playing 15 years, he doesn't look like it."

Watson can feel the years sometimes.

He feels them in the meeting room, where his teammates automatically look up to him to as a leader, even though he spent the past two seasons in Baltimore. Veterans Josh Hill and Michael Hoomanawanui have been in New Orleans the entire time, but Watson's experience carries a lot of weight, even if the Saints have changed a lot in the two years he spent with the Ravens.

"I automatically feel that, simply because they remind me that my rookie year in the league, they were in elementary school, stuff like that," Watson said. "We have those times where we joke ‘Hey man, you’ve played longer than all of us combined.’ "

When last season ended — a season where the still-productive Watson led the Baltimore Ravens with 61 catches — he contemplated walking away from the game.

"At the end of last year, I was very unsure if I was going to continue playing," Watson said. "Talking with my wife and family, we were OK with not playing. That was going to be it, we were in a good place."

Then New Orleans called.

One of Watson's old teams needed help. Two years after the Saints let Watson sign with the Ravens in free agency, the New Orleans tight ends produced only 45 catches as an entire position group.

The Saints were in luck.

"I've said it before, this was one of maybe two places that I would even consider coming back," Watson said. "It's tough moving. You factor in, do I want to move my family somewhere for what's going to be one year, at this point in my career? You factor in all of those things, but we felt like this is an opportunity that the Lord presented to us."

Watson came back to the place he produced the best season of his career. After he spent the first two years of his first stint in New Orleans handling the dirty work while Jimmy Graham caught a truckload of passes, Watson had to step into a different role after the Saints traded Graham in 2015.

Then 34, Watson responded with career-best numbers of 74 catches, 825 yards and six scores.

"The offense was catered to him in a lot of ways; they needed somebody to make some of those plays, and I had the opportunity to do so. I was coached by coach (Sean) Payton and coach Drew Brees on how to do certain things, and I did them," Watson said. "That's how you stay in the game. (You've) got to be able to evolve into what the need is and continue to perfect your skills."

With a deeper, more talented receiving corps and Alvin Kamara catching passes out of the backfield, the Saints might not need Watson to be quite that productive this fall.

But they do need him to tap into those skills. Coby Fleener, the young player the Saints signed to replace Watson after that 2015 season, spent a disappointing two seasons in New Orleans, struggling to make the contested catches the Saints need or to make an impact on third down.

Watson did all of those things in 2015, but he knows his role might look a little different this time around.

"It’s about opportunity," Watson said. "It’s about coaching staffs. It's about an offense. It's about developing a certain confidence. It's about people allowing you to do things that you could do or you’re needed to do something that you could do as opposed to something else. ... For me, that last year was the combination of those factors."

Watson is off to a good start, although he did miss a week early in training camp because of an undisclosed injury.

"He's getting back into playing shape," Payton said. "It was good to get him some work last week, because he didn't play in the first game, but I think he's progressing."

Two years removed from a torn Achilles tendon suffered in his first season in Baltimore, Watson can still feel the effects of that injury at times, but he said the heel feels much better than it did during training camp last year in Baltimore.

What he was dealing with early in camp was something else altogether.

"It's had its own challenges," Watson said. "While it may not be one thing, there's always something else at this point in my career."

Unlike Brees, who hasn't been shy about saying he wants to play into his 40s, Watson has set no goals about how long he wants to play in the NFL.

"I've never been the one to say, 'Hey, I want to play 10 years, I want to play five years, I want to play 15 years,' " Watson said. "No, it’s I’ve got to make it through this day, and this day has enough challenges. I’ve got to make it through this game, through this week, through this training camp. When you have that sort of focus, then the years start to add on."