Pierre Thomas Still Hurt; Drew Brees Doing Fine

It’s been an interesting year thus far for Saints’ running back Pierre Thomas.

Near the beginning of this year he was able to play a key role in both the NFC Championship Game as well as in the Super Bowl, which saw him score the first ever touchdown by a Saints’ player in a Super Bowl.

Then, there was the holdout. Thomas signed with the Saints as an undrafted free agent in 2007 and was still being paid what undrafted free agents are paid, however Thomas had burst onto the scene as a legitimate choice to start at the running back position which then entailed him to more money.

Both sides hammered out an agreement and then it was time to get on the field and play ball!

But then came the injury. Thomas suffered an ankle “sprain” against the Atlanta Falcons but then returned to play in what eventually turned into an overtime loss for the Who Dats at the hands of the Dirty Birds.

Since Thomas had returned to play in the game, it was assumed by many that the injury was “no big deal.” In retrospective, however, it was a big deal.

Six weeks have passed, and the PT Cruiser isn’t cruising, the Flying Frenchman isn’t flying, in fact, Thomas is using crutches to keep his weight off of his injured ankle.

The official word? “Just a bad sprain.”

First came the reports that head coach Sean Payton was losing his patience with the young running back and then today, Brian Allee-Walsh of NewOrleans.com reported that Thomas was almost traded to the New England Patriots for a cornerback a couple of weeks back.

The deal alledgedly never went down because the Patriots wanted a draft pick as part of the deal and the Saints’ front office reportedly didn’t want to give one up.

But it doesn’t seem as if Thomas isn’t trying to get back on the field as soon as possible as some suggest.

In talking with reporters on Thursday, Thomas said that his ankle “hurts all over” and reported that doctors had “found something else” when he was re-examined last week, however he was also told that he’ll be able to stop using the crutches during the Week 10 bye.

The Saints face the Carolina Panthers this weekend in Charlottesville.

The question is, will Thomas ever be the same again?

We all know how important a healthy ankle is to an individual in everyday life, much less to a pro athlete who makes his living running into a pile of 300 lb. men.

And even if he does get back to 100 percent, how much longer will he be in the Black and Gold?

Since Thomas’ injury, along with that of fellow running back Reggie Bush, the Saints have struggled while trying to run the ball and because of that, the passing game has struggled at times.

Thomas needs to get back on the field as soon as possible and prove himself to Payton and the rest of the Saints’ organization, which he’s been doing his entire career in New Orleans, so doing it a little longer shouldn’t hurt.

Sean Payton and the Saints’ front office most likely spent most of the day cringing.

Along with the report that Thomas was nearly traded, there also came a report that quarterback Drew Brees had a knee injury and that the team was hiding it from the league.

Kenny Wilkerson of WIST radio in New Orleans, citing an “impeccable source”, reports that Brees has a knee fracture and a torn meniscus and says that he believes that the information is “100 thousand million trillion percent” true.

Wilkerson is the former sideline reporter for the New Orleans Saints Radio Network and a former co-host of “Sports Talk” on WWL radio in New Orleans.

Reactions around “Saintsophere” have been disbelief and many do not believe the report which seems more and more to be a simple rumor than a legitmate report based on any real fact.

In a press conference on Thursday, Payton said that the report “wasn’t right” and “completely false”.

Brees denied the report and did not practice with a brace or any other medical device  of any kind to protect the knee. He also drop-kicked several field goals (including a 40 yarder, replacement for Garrett Hartley?) and did jumping-jacks to prove that he wasn’t having any knee issues.

Impeccable sources and being “100 thousand million trillion percent sure” just isn’t good enough for some people, Kenny.

Check out Keith Null’s weekly article about the Saints on NFL.com by clicking here.

Get WhoDatDish.com three ways, subscribe to the RSS feed, become a friend of WDD on Twitter,or enjoy the new iPhone and Android app by searching for Who Dat Dish in your phone’s app store,it’s free!