NEW ORLEANS - In the hallway that leads from the Green Bay Packers locker room to the tunnel out to Lambeau Field hang enormous, 5-foot by 7-foot murals depicting the greatest moments in the stadium's rich history. On each, aged black-and-white photos serve as the background to a full-color, green-and-golden memory.

From then-Vice President Richard Nixon attending the 1957 stadium dedication, to the legendary Ice Bowl in 1967. From the unforgettable 1983 Monday night game against Washington to Brett Favre's burst-onto-the-scene comeback victory over Cincinnati in 1992. From Reggie White holding the frigid 1996 NFC championship trophy to Antonio Freeman's "Monday Night Miracle" catch in 2000.

The most recent had been from the 2003 NFC wild card playoff game against Seattle that the Packers won in overtime on Al Harris' pick-six interception for a touchdown. That is, until last week, when the latest was added, from last year's NFC divisional victory over the Seahawks, with halfback Ryan Grant featured prominently.

"Wow," Grant, who rushed for a franchise playoff record 201 yards in that game, said upon seeing the new mural for the first time. "I'm on the board with some people."

By now, you're probably wondering why we're breaking down the hallway hangings like we're at the Louvre. For one simple, encouraging reason that likely will make the difference between the Packers getting on an end-of-the-season run - starting with Monday night's showdown against the New Orleans Saints at the Louisiana Superdome - and missing the playoffs one year after reaching the conference championship game:

For the first time since that snowy January Saturday against the Seahawks, Grant is feeling like the guy on the mural.

"I am," said Grant, who rushed for a season-high 145 yards and a touchdown on 25 carries in the Packers' 37-3 victory over Chicago last week, when the Packers gained a season-best 200 yards on the ground as a team.

"I always felt like that guy. I might not have performed like that guy and put up the numbers like that guy, but I am feeling healthy now, feeling strong."

Slow start

After protracted contract negotiations left him on the sideline for all offseason minicamp and organized team activity practices - although Grant, an exclusive rights free agent, did attend all workouts, conditioning sessions and meetings - Grant suffered a hamstring injury in training camp, shortly after signing a four-year, incentive-laded $18 million extension, which could be worth nearly $30 million.

Despite the injury, he has played in all 10 regular-season games and enters tonight having rushed for 770 yards (11th in the NFL coming into the week) and three touchdowns (tied for 32nd) on 198 carries (3.9-yard average, tied for 31st).

In the three games since the Packers' bye week, he has rushed for 306 yards and two touchdowns on 61 carries (5.0-yard average) and showed more burst and explosiveness against the Bears than he'd shown all season.

"I'll say this: We don't make excuses. The kid lined up, the kid played. (But he) obviously was not 100 percent - nowhere near 100 percent," running backs coach Edgar Bennett said. "(He's) an explosive runner and that's an important part of (his) attributes, and he was limited with his hamstring injury.

"Explosion. Breaking tackles. Picking your feet up in the hole. Really, (those are) the little things, but obviously they're big things from a fundamental standpoint."

Asked why the team didn't just sit Grant down until his hamstring had healed, Bennett said, "I think it's certainly important to still try to get your featured running back into the groove or rhythm with his offensive line. And certainly the dividends are paying now. It might not have been exactly what you want early in the season, but I think he's gotten better."

Because of his slow start, some criticized the team for overpaying Grant based on one year's production - the team might have deserved more criticism for not getting the deal done during the offseason rather than for overpaying him - but Grant said he was unaware of the negative talk that followed his breakout 2007 season (929 yards, eight TDs over the final 10 regular-season games).

He also said he wasn't putting additional pressure on himself to justify his big-money contract, which raised his pay from $310,000 last season to potentially $4.25 million - or more, including incentives - this year.

"I'm sure when I got traded here, people were saying, 'Why did they trade for him?' too," said Grant, whom the Packers acquired from the New York Giants for a sixth-round draft pick after training camp ended.

"The only people I care about are in this organization - these players and these coaches. Everybody else is from an outside source, and that's their freedom of speech and their judgment."

Inside the organization, the feeling was that Grant would return to form once healthy.

"We think he's got a lot of ability, we think he's got a chance to develop further," offensive coordinator Joe Philbin said. "We never lost faith in this guy (and said), 'Hey, he's not a very good runner,' or something like that."

"Guys need practice. My God - you don't practice all May or June, you don't practice a good bit of the preseason … you're not just going to plunk a guy out there, whether his hamstring feels great or not. We probably wouldn't do that at any other position and anticipate a perfect level of play."

'Better and better'

That said, Philbin admitted it was frustrating to watch Grant struggle with his fundamentals - running with a low pad level, picking up his legs to break tackles - and not burst through holes created by the zone-blocking scheme the way he had last season.

Until last week, that is.

On a second-and-14 play on his second official carry against the Bears, Grant read blocks by fullback Korey Hall and left guard Jason Spitz through a huge hole, eluded safety Kevin Payne, broke safety Mike Brown's tackle and wound up gaining 35 yards - the Packers' first run of more than 20 yards since Grant's 57-yarder late in their season-opening victory over Minnesota.

"The best part about it was, Ryan Grant made the safety miss at 7 yards and gained 28 yards on his own," Philbin said. "That was really the biggest part of the play."

And exactly what Grant is capable of doing when healthy, as he is now and as he was in that historic game on the hallway wall.

"It's frustrating to play through an injury - especially a leg injury (when) my job is to run," Grant said. "But I've felt good for the past four, five weeks. And each week I'm feeling stronger. At this point, I would think most backs are starting to get a little beat down. But for some reason, I feel better and better."