Saints’ Michael Thomas says he won’t return to field this season

NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) - Injured Saints wide receiver Michael Thomas announced in a tweet Wednesday (Nov. 3) that he will “not be able” to return to the playing field this season.

“I’ve always been a man of faith and these past few months, my faith has been truly tested,” Thomas wrote. “As many of you know, early last season I injured my ankle and worked extremely hard over the next few months to get back in time to finish the season.

“Unfortunately, the rehab didn’t go as planned and earlier this off-season it was apparent I would need to have a procedure to repair the injury. ... Unfortunately, there has been another small setback which we will have to address. To my displeasure, I will not be able to make it back in time for this season.”

Earlier, the NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported that Thomas had encountered an unspecified “new issue” with his surgically repaired ankle that clouded his prospect of returning to the field anytime soon.

Citing unnamed sources, Rapoport said the Saints’ star receiver recently required a new appointment with a specialist, making his return date from the Physically Unable to Perform list “unpredictable.”

“This is why New Orleans tried to trade for a WR yesterday,” Rapoport tweeted.

The NFL’s trade deadline passed Tuesday at 3 p.m. without the Saints making an additional acquisition, amid reported rumors that they had checked into the asking price for Cleveland’s Odell Beckham Jr., the homegrown New Orleans product of Isidore Newman High School and LSU.

Thomas, the 2019 NFL Offensive Player of the Year, injured the ankle late in the 2020 season. He did not have surgery until June 2021, which did not sit well in July with Coach Sean Payton or GM Mickey Loomis, because it left Thomas unavailable to start this season on time.

Placing Thomas on the PUP list meant he would miss at least the first six games of the season. The wideout already has missed seven games, before ruling himself out for the rest of the season on Wednesday.

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