Try not to overreact to this: New Orleans Saints head coach Dennis Allen shared an update on wide receiver Michael Thomas and his recovery from November toe surgery at NFL owners meetings in Phoenix on Tuesday.
When asked about his star player’s status, Allen said that Thomas is making progress in recovery: “He’s not 100%. We’re going to be cautious with it and take our time. We don’t want to put him out there until he’s 100%. I expect him to be fully healthy and ready to go. When that point in time is, I don’t want to get into those speculations.”
Allen added, “But yeah, we feel good where he’s at.”
It was previously reported that Thomas has a physical scheduled “on or about” April 21 which will trigger guarantees in the new contract he signed with the Saints at the start of free agency. So even if Allen isn’t willing to put a firm deadline on his progress in front of reporters, the Saints medical staff has a timeline and they know when Thomas is due for his next checkup.
So by the sound of it, Thomas is right on track with where Allen and the Saints expect him to be, nearly six months removed from his latest surgery. This dislocated toe was unrelated to the ankle injury that cost him most of the 2020 and 2021 seasons, but it’s still a frustrating sequence of events for the 30-year-old.
But this isn’t really something fans need to worry about now. They may not even need to sweat it in April after that deadline. If Thomas is still unavailable once the Saints begin OTAs and minicamps over the summer ahead of training camp, then we’ll start to feel some concern.
