Saints rule out Michael Thomas (ankle) for MNF vs. Chargers

There was some optimism that wide receiver Michael Thomas could return to play for the New Orleans Saints in Week 5’s game against the Los Angeles Chargers.

There was some optimism that wide receiver Michael Thomas could return to play for the New Orleans Saints in Week 5’s game against the Los Angeles Chargers after practicing on a limited basis for two weeks, but ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports that the Saints ruled Thomas out after initially listing him as questionable on their final injury report.

It’s a bit surprising. Thomas will now have missed four games with an ankle injury that wasn’t described as particularly serious after exiting Week 1’s win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. If the Saints had known that he would miss four weeks of work, he could have been placed on the injured reserve list; this year, NFL rules allow teams to bring a player back after just three weeks on I.R. So this wasn’t something the Saints saw coming.

But it does make sense to rest him and lower the risk of re-injury. New Orleans will rest during its Week 6 bye after Monday night’s game with the Chargers, giving Thomas a little more time to fully heal before returning to action against the Carolina Panthers in Week 7’s Oct. 25 game at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.

In the meantime, Saints quarterback Drew Brees should continue to work on his connections with wide receivers Tre’Quan Smith and Emmanuel Sanders. They each had terrific games against the Detroit Lions a week ago, with Smith scoring two touchdown catches and Sanders leading New Orleans in receiving yards. That accelerated chemistry between Brees and his complimentary weapons may be the silver lining to Thomas missing so much of the early season.

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