Michael Thomas out for the season: A setback in his recovery from ankle surgery will force the Saints star receiver to miss the entire 2021 NFL season.
Another huge blow was dealt to the New Orleans Saints on Wednesday morning.
Michael Thomas, who was placed on IR before the start of the season due to offseason ankle surgery, announced on Twitter that he will miss the entire season after suffering a setback in his recovery.
The news comes on the heels of the Saints losing starting quarterback Jameis Winston for the year after he suffered a torn ACL and MCL in a win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday.
Losing Thomas is a massive blow, which seems rather obvious. While he hasn’t played a single snap this season, his return was a sort of light at the end of the tunnel for a Saints offense that desperately needs him. New Orleans ranks last in the NFL in explosive wide receiver plays with just 15, while everyone else in the league has at least 20.
Michael Thomas ankle: Michael Thomas out for season
The writing seemed to be on the wall when Ian Rapoport reported on Wednesday morning that Thomas was dealing with an unexpected setback in his recovery.
Rapoport didn’t initially report that Thomas was done for the season, but it wasn’t hard to connect the dots. Less than an hour after the report surfaced, Thomas confirmed the worst-case scenario for Saints fans in a message on Twitter.
It seems in hindsight that New Orleans might have known this news was coming. Saints beat writer Nick Underhill wrote in post-deadline column that New Orleans had Darius Slayton among a list of wide receiver trade targets, but a deal never materialized. Given how rough the Saints offense has been at times this season, specifically at wide receiver, and now with news that their best receiver won’t be back in 2021, it’s not surprising to hear that New Orleans wanted to get ahead of what could be a situation that sinks their Super Bowl hopes.