Report: Saints Receiver Michael Thomas Benched for Monday Night Football
Former Ohio State wide receiver and current New Orleans Saints All-Pro pass catcher won’t be playing on Monday Night Football against the Chargers ... and it won’t be because of the injury that has sidelined him since Week 1.
Thomas and a teammate engaged in an altercation at practice this weekend and the Saints will discipline Thomas by sitting him tomorrow night, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
The Saints said in a release that he will not play due to “non-injury” related reasons.
It has been three games since Thomas has played this season. For the last two weeks, he has been practicing on a limited basis, as a result of an ankle injury suffered in the season-opener against the Buccaneers. Thomas was listed as questionable going into tomorrow night’s game.
Thomas has accomplished great feats since emerging on the scene in the NFL. Since 2016, Thomas has caught 473 passes for 5,529 yards and 32 touchdown passes. Last year, Thomas won NFL Offensive Player of the Year with his 149 receptions, 1,725 receiving yards and nine touchdowns. He was the first wide receiver to win the award since Jerry Rice in 1993.
Thomas signed a five-year, $100 million contract extension before the 2019 season, which made him the highest paid receiver in the NFL. Although Thomas has had a clean track record during his NFL career, former OSU head coach Urban Meyer said that Thomas was immature when first arriving in Columbus as a freshman.
"He came here and was immature. Always a good person, but just a little bit immature. (Thomas) thought he was working hard, but he really wasn't," Meyer told ESPN in 2016. "He probably thought he was a little better than he was. He didn't know the offense, he was making too many mistakes, he was an excuse maker. And that's not an attack on Mike. That's a typical young player that maybe was a great player in high school, but it's just a little harder in college."
However, Meyer said Thomas blossomed the next two years as a Buckeye.
"Then he went on a two-year run where he was exceptional. Exceptional in the classroom, graduated with a very good GPA, and became obviously our go-to receiver," Meyer said. "So, I love Michael. His best attribute is that when he gets challenged, he's an extreme competitor. So, I love guys like that."
If Thomas fully receivers from his ankle injury, he will return to the field on Oct. 25 against the Panthers. The Saints have a bye next week.
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