New Orleans Saints receiver Michael Thomas is likely to have surgeries on his ankle during the offseason. These surgeries will repair a torn deltoid and multiple injured ligaments in the ankle that negatively impacted his 2020 season, according to ESPN‘s Adam Schefter.
Schefter added that Thomas didn’t always practice all week but would still play games in 2020 at less than 100 percent with the help of pain medications. The coaches told him that, even as injured as he was, they were better off with him on the field than without him.
It is expected that Thomas will be fully recovered in time for summer OTA’s under a normal offseason calendar.
Thomas first suffered the ankle injury at the end of the Saints’ Week 1 34-21 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Thomas missed nine games in the regular season.
Thomas went on Injured Reserve from Weeks 15-17 to try to get as healthy for the playoffs as possible since the Saints were anticipating a Super Bowl run. Thomas returned to action and secured five catches for 73 yards and his first touchdown of the season as the Saints defeated the Chicago Bears in the Wild Card round.
Thomas also played in the divisional round playoff, as the Saints fell to Tampa Bay by a score of 30-20. In this game, he failed to haul in any of his four targets, including a near-touchdown that was ruled out of bounds.
By the end of the season, Thomas accumulated 40 catches for 438 yards and zero touchdowns in seven games, just one season after setting the NFL record of 149 catches in 2019. Thomas’ 510 career receptions are the most by a player in the first five seasons in their NFL career.
It will be interesting to see how Thomas fares next season when in all likelihood, the Saints will have a new gunslinger under center as Drew Brees mulls retirement.
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