Tag: saintswire

It was clear to everyone watching that Michael Thomas wasn’t able to play at full strength, but ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports that the Saints receiver was fighting through even more adversity than was seen on the surface.
Per Schefter’s report, Thomas tore the deltoid ligament in his ankle and injured several others back in Week 1 and often wasn’t able to practice.
He still suited up for nine games this year, including the playoffs, catching 45 of 66 targets for just 511 receiving yards and one touchdown catch, all career lows.
Schefter adds that when Thomas did join his teammates for games, he often required medication to help fight through the pain.
If Thomas does go under the knife and spend his offseason healing up, there’s a good chance he’ll return to New Orleans for training camp to work with a new quarterback

The Saints announced Friday that running back Alvin Kamara was placed on the NFL’s reserve/COVID-19 list, sidelining him for at least 10 days after testing positive for the coronavirus.
The team’s best player is now ineligible to suit up for their Week 17 regular-season finale and, depending on how the postseason schedule shakes out, the first round of the playoffs.
It’s a huge loss. They’ll now be leaning on backup running backs Latavius Murray and Ty Montgomery, as well as special teams ace Dwayne Washington.
Kamara is probably a loss for the first round any way you slice it, and it’s kind of a long shot for the Saints to earn a valuable first-round bye.
The NFL’s single-loss elimination format narrows the margin for error to an incredibly thin window, and Kamara’s absence means the Saints are in serious danger no matter who their opponent is

It shouldn’t surprise anyone that Alvin Kamara has been recognized as the NFC Offensive Player of the Week for Week 16, but it’s still great to see the Saints superstar getting his due credit.
Kamara ran 22 times for 155 rushing yards, a new single-game high for him, but what really made headlines were his six rushing touchdowns.
He also caught a couple of passes for 17 receiving yards, but Kamara’s efforts on the ground were what made the highlight reel.
Kamara has set new personal-bests in touchdowns scored (21) and yards gained from scrimmage (1,688) while averaging his strongest yards per touch (6.3) since his 2017 rookie year

Frustrations boiled over in the Saints’ game with the Chiefs, and it got Cameron Jordan disqualified.
The defensive captain exchanged some blows with the Kansas City right tackle too close to the whistle for the officiating crew’s liking, so they threw a flag and tossed him for throwing a punch.
It’s the first time Jordan’s been ejected in his 166-game career.
It’s an ugly scene, and Jordan should know better. But it’s easy to see why he lost his cool: getting held all afternoon is enough to upset anyone.
Still, Jordan hurt his team, and he has to watch himself more carefully moving forwards. The penalty yards he yielded set the Chiefs up for a walk-in touchdown run