Michael Thomas implies Saints 'tried to damage' his reputation in cryptic tweet
It's fair to say at this point that there seems to be a rift between the New Orleans Saints and their star wide receiver Michael Thomas. And it doesn't look like it'll be healing soon.
Thomas sent a cryptic tweet Monday morning, alluding to an entity that has tried to hurt his reputation, and him "saving" their reputation by keeping his mouth shut.
— Michael Thomas (@Cantguardmike) August 9, 2021
He's not saying it's about the Saints, but it doesn't seem like it could be about anything else.
What is Thomas referencing here, and how did he and the Saints get to the point where one of their own players is subtweeting them? Let's go back through the story up until now.
Ankle injury, delayed surgery
Thomas, 28, has spent his entire five-year career with the Saints. He had a great 2018 season and a dynamite 2019 season, making the Pro Bowl both years and twice earning first-team All-Pro honors.
But 2020 wasn't so great. He sustained a high ankle sprain in Week 1, and appeared in just seven total games, starting five. The injury nagged at him throughout the season, and Jeff Duncan of the Times-Picayune reported that the Saints wanted Thomas to get surgery early in the offseason. Thomas reportedly decided to get a second opinion, which suggested a "conservative," surgery-free approach.
According to Duncan, the Saints agreed in March to let Thomas rehab without surgery. Thomas ended up having ankle surgery anyway, three months after the Saints had suggested it. With a 3-4 month recovery time, Thomas won't start the 2021 season on time.
Lack of communication?
So what happened during those three months? Well, Duncan reported that before Thomas started rehabbing at his offseason home in California, the Saints set benchmarks for him to meet in his recovery. Those benchmarks would make sure everything was correctly healing. From there, Thomas reportedly stopped communicating with the Saints.
For unknown reasons, Thomas fell out of communication with the Saints. He did not return multiple calls over the next three months. Then-Saints trainer Beau Lowery, wide receivers coach Curtis Johnson and head coach Sean Payton all tried to reach Thomas. None of their calls were taken or returned.
The Saints discovered that Thomas' ankle hadn't healed once he got to camp in June, and then he had surgery. Head coach Sean Payton and general manager Mickey Loomis both said at the time that they'd wanted Thomas to have surgery several months ago, but both declined to say why Thomas hadn't gotten it done.
This new report about Thomas' lack of communication hasn't been confirmed or commented on by the team, but Thomas appears to be taking Duncan's report as a personal attack on him by the Saints. His tweet implied that his side of the story is damaging to the Saints, and he has "saved" them by keeping it to himself.
Of course, he's not really staying quiet by declaring on social media that there's another side of the story the world hasn't heard yet. If Thomas is feeling attacked, we'll probably hear his telling of this saga sooner rather than later.
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