This hurts. NewOrleans.Football’s Brooke Kirchhofer reports that the New Orleans Saints are placing wide receiver Michael Thomas on injured reserve, sidelining him for at least the next four games — and possibly more depending on the severity of his knee injury.
Thomas did everything the right way. He stepped up as a leader in the locker room this season and worked hard to get in rhythm with his new quarterback Derek Carr. He was injured after he took a helmet to the knee on the Saints’ second play from scrimmage against the Minnesota Vikings, which can’t be helped.
It’s just rotten luck for a player who has already had to overcome a lot of adversity with injuries. Thomas was on a Hall of Fame trajectory before a couple of lower-leg injuries interrupted his career. He won’t be eligible to return until Week 16’s game with the Los Angeles Rams, which raises the question as to why the Saints didn’t put Thomas on injured reserve during their bye week to shorten that window.
It’s possible he wouldn’t have been healthy enough to return by that point anyway. We’ll have to wait and see, but hopefully this is not a season-ending injury. Thomas is on track to be a free agent in the spring and this would be a disappointing way for his Saints career to end.
