Google News Saints HC reveals plan for star WR Michael Thomas after three injury-plagued seasons
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New Orleans Saints head coach Dennis Allen said he anticipates Michael Thomas being ready to take on the field when the time comes for training camp. Thomas, who was the NFL Offensive Player of the Year in 2019, has appeared in just 10 games over the last three seasons due to various injuries.
“Right now, he’s still going through some of the rehab process. He had some hardware removed out of that foot that he had surgery on this past season. He’s doing really well. He’s working extremely hard.
Our anticipation is that he’ll be limited throughout this offseason. But our anticipation is that when we get to training camp, he’ll be good to go," Allen said on the Rich Eisen show, via Pro Football Talk.
Allen confident Thomas can return to his old level
Last year, Thomas appeared in just three games.
In those three games, Thomas had 15 catches for 171 yards and three touchdowns. Thomas was showing signs of still being a top wide receiver before an unfortunate injury put an end to what looked like a big bounce-back season.
In 2019, Thomas put monster numbers and he was widely considered one of the best wideouts in the game. If 30-year-old Thomas stays healthy, coach Allen thinks the wide receiver could again post big numbers. “Now, when we get to training camp, we’re going to make sure that we’re smart with him in terms of getting him back in and getting him back into football shape.
But, look, he came off really kind of two seasons of not really playing a lot. And really had a really nice start to the season last year — it was unfortunate that he got injured when he did because going back, just the opener against Atlanta and our ability to throw contested-ball throws to him in tough situations down there in the red zone, third down, things of that nature — not having him was a big loss to us last year.
So, our expectation is we’re going to have him back and we’re going to have him healthy. And we’re looking forward to getting the Mike Thomas that you saw three years ago," Allen explained.
