Michael Thomas says he caught 7 passes last week with a broken hand

New Orleans Saints wide receiver Michael Thomas took some happiness in seeing the Minnesota Vikings fall, and shed some light on his injury.

[jwplayer gDZGKLBo-ThvAeFxT]

The Minnesota Vikings were steamrolled by the San Francisco 49ers in the divisional round of the NFC playoffs, losing 27-10 on the road just a week after they beat the New Orleans Saints in a big upset.

Few people were as happy to see Minnesota fall on its face as Saints wide receiver Michael Thomas, the two-time first-team All-Pro who led his team with seven catches for 70 yards in the wild-card round. Thomas had himself a ball going back-and-forth with Vikings fans on social media, but added an interesting detail — he says he played with a broken hand last week.

It’s possible he’s telling the truth. Thomas was limited in practice for two weeks with an unspecified hand injury, and his production in his final two games noticeably trailed off from his season averages. In those last two matchups with the Vikings and Carolina Panthers, Thomas caught just 11 passes for 107 yards; he averaged 9.3 receptions per game and 107.8 receiving yards per game in the 2019 season. So a broken hand would explain the drop-off.

However, the other part of Thomas’s statement isn’t exactly correct. He called out the Vikings receiving corps for failing to show up against the 49ers, joking, “I don’t think anyone got more than (one) catch,” but the truth is that Stefon Diggs (two receptions) and Adam Thielen (five catches) combined for as many completions as Thomas posted a week ago. That isn’t exactly ideal, and their struggles against a 49ers secondary that Thomas and his teammates dropped 46 points on does a lot to explain why this one was so lopsided.

Now, here’s hoping Thomas spends his offseason healing up and getting his body right. He took a lot of hits while breaking the NFL single-season record for catches (149), and appears to have even broken his hand. The Saints should be right back in Super Bowl contention next season, and they’ll need Thomas to lead them again if they’re going to reach that goal.

[vertical-gallery id=26750]