Saints star wide receiver Michael Thomas is dealing with a new and separate ankle injury that has made his timeline to return to play unclear, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.
According to NFL Network, Thomas, who opened the season on the physically unable to perform list, recently saw a specialist to try and understand the new issue and gauge when he might need to return and what still needs to be fixed.
Thomas had his ankle surgically repaired in June and while he was expected to miss the start of this season, coach Sean Payton had said over the summer that Thomas was “ahead of schedule” in his recovery.
The three-time Pro Bowler played in seven regular-season games in 2020 due to injuries and disciplinary issues. The ankle injury that delayed his start to this season occurred in Week 1 of last year.
Thomas has been one of the NFL’s most productive receivers since entering the NFL in 2016. He’s tallied 510 catches in just 70 career games, setting the NFL record with 149 receptions in ’19.
But last season, he finished the year with just 40 catches and 438 yards, failing to catch a touchdown until the postseason.
According to NFL Network, Thomas’s unclear timetable was why the Saints explored the possibility of adding a wide receiver ahead of Tuesday’s trade deadline.
New Orleans enters Week 9 at 5—2 and is set to face the Falcons this weekend.
More NFL Coverage:
!function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s){if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function()
{n.callMethod? n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)}
;if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;
n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version=’2.0′;n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;
t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window,
document,’script’,’https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/fbevents.js’);
(function(){
fbq(‘init’, ‘1103097776498609’);
fbq(‘track’, ‘PageView’);
var contentId = ‘ci0291545d3000266e’;
if (contentId !== ”) {
fbq(‘track’, ‘ViewContent’, {content_ids: [contentId], content_type: ‘product’});
}
})();
Source link