Michael Thomas totally blew off Saints in the offseason
By Kristen Wong
We all know New Orleans Saints wide receiver Michael Thomas is going to miss the start of the season. Sean Payton is understandably frustrated, and a recent report explains why he and the Saints franchise are a little more than miffed with their star receiver.
Thomas ignored multiple calls from Saints coaches over a three-month period after the end of the 2020 season, according to Jeff Duncan of the Times-Picayune. Then-Saints trainer Beau Lowery, wide receiver coach Curtis Johnson, and Payton all tried to reach Thomas to get an update on his ankle injury.
Thomas ghosted them all, and he hasn’t seemed very apologetic about it so far.
After the Saints’ postseason, the medical staff recommended Thomas to undergo surgery immediately to repair the ligament damage, but Thomas decided to get a second opinion, and rightfully so.
That doctor suggested a more conservative approach that would let the injury heal over time through rehab and therapy, which was ultimately what Thomas ended up doing.
Yet when Thomas reported for offseason workouts in June, the Saints officially determined his injury would require surgery. Had Thomas returned some of his calls or even just kept up basic communication with his team during his rehab, this whole fiasco might have been avoided.
The 10-to-12 week recovery process will cause Thomas to miss an indeterminate amount of regular-season games. Payton voiced his irritation saying Thomas should have had the surgery earlier, but what’s past is past – Thomas can’t exactly go back in time and get the surgery in March as the team advised.
New Orleans Saints are angry with Michael Thomas for a good reason
It’s unclear as to whether Thomas was intentionally ignoring his coaches’ calls or whether he sincerely believed he would recover in time for the season.
He reportedly missed a follow-up appointment in April to decide if surgery would be required. On that timeline, Thomas would have at least given himself a chance to be fully fit by the time season began.
But it’s not healthy to dwell in the past. Thomas did what he did, and the Saints franchise can be as angry as they want, but they just have to deal with the consequences.
Tensions were already boiling between Thomas and the Saints when Thomas was disciplined over a practice fight with C.J. Gardner-Johnson last year. This offseason, the wide receiver has been the talk of the town regarding some controversial trade rumors but will more than likely stay in New Orleans for 2021.
The absence of their No. 1 wideout doesn’t do the team any favors in training camp, especially not when there’s a serious quarterback battle going on.
Thomas remains one of their most important offensive assets going into the season, and it’s just unfortunate that his injury situation had to end this way.
4 players who had us talking after Day 9 of camp. dark. Next
Currently, the Saints wide receiver room has surprisingly lived up to their potential (and more) in camp, so New Orleans is in a better preseason state than expected. Still, would it have killed Thomas to pick up the phone? The Saints are pissed, and so are we.