Michael Thomas is headed back to injured reserve.
The New Orleans Saints star wide receiver has been placed on injured reserve due to a knee injury suffered in the loss to the Minnesota Vikings back on November 12. This season, Thomas had appeared in 10 games for the Saints with seven starts, recording 39 receptions for 448 yards and one touchdown.
Injuries have taken away the majority of Thomas’ previous three seasons. Hamstring and ankle issues sidelined him in 2020 before he missed the duration of the 2021 season due to an ankle injury. In 2022, Thomas played in only three games before more hamstring issues and a pedal toe dislocation kept him off the field.
The former record-setting All-Pro has played in just 10 of a possible 40 games over the previous three seasons and will now miss at least the next four games of the 2023 season for the first-place Saints.
For his career, Thomas has 565 receptions for 6,569 yards and 36 touchdowns. He is a three-time Pro Bowler and two-time All-Pro and was named the NFL Offensive Player of the Year in 2019. That season he set the new NFL single-season record for receptions with 149 for 1,725 yards.
With being placed on IR, the earliest Thomas could return to game action would be the team’s road game against the Los Angeles Rams on Thursday, December 21.
The Saints also signed Marquez Callaway to their practice squad.
Callaway was originally signed by the Saints as an undrafted free agent in 2020 out of Tennessee and in 42 regular season games with 17 starts for New Orleans (2020-22), he has recorded career totals of 83 receptions for 1,069 yards with seven touchdowns.
After going to training camp with the Denver Broncos with former Saints head coach Sean Payton, Callaway was cut and then spent the first six weeks of the season on the Las Vegas Raiders practice squad.