Michael Thomas injury update: When will Saints WR return from rehab?

It was announced early Friday morning that New Orleans Saints wide receiver Michael Thomas would miss the start of the 2021 NFL season. With the Saints offense already a little shaken up after the retirement of quarterback Drew Brees, losing their number one wide receiver will definitely throw a wrench in the offensive plans.

How much time will Michael Thomas miss?

Michael Thomas underwent surgery in June to repair ligaments in ankle. Thomas suffered an ankle injury in Week 1 of the 2020 season in a game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Thomas then missed the next six weeks of play due to the injury.

Thomas did play seven games in 2020 even with the ankle issue, though his production wasn't the caliber of play. He has just 438 receiving yards on 40 catches and no touchdowns, in regular season play. In the Saints' playoff run, he had just 73 yards and one touchdown.

Sources: #Saints star WR Michael Thomas is expected to miss the start of the 2021 season after undergoing surgery to repair the ligaments in his ankle in June. Based on the timing of the surgery – and recommended 4 months of recovery – Thomas could be on the sideline for weeks.

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) July 23, 2021

As reported by NFL insider Ian Rapoport, the recovery time for this injury and surgery is four months. Since he had surgery in June, that would make him unavailable until at least October, depending on how the rehab process works out.

Before Thomas underwent ankle surgery in June, head coach Sean Payton said he was at mandatory mini camp and participating. Payton said that Thomas seemed to be doing well with the ankle injury at the time. But, since he had the surgery in June, one could only guess that perhaps it didn't heal as he had hoped or perhaps it was reinjured at some point.

The Saints will now need to figure out what they are going to do without their strongest offensive weapon. There are a few free agent wide receivers still on the market, such as Golden Tate and Dez Bryant, who the Saints may be interested in signing to help fill the void on the roster until Thomas is able to return. Having a versatile, athletic offensive weapon like Taysom Hill is really going to help the Saints.

In light of the Michael Thomas news, the #Saints have been nosing around free-agent wide receivers, sources say. Expect them to at least work out a few in the coming days.

— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) July 23, 2021

Michael Thomas was drafted by the New Orleans Saints in the second round of the 2016 NFL draft out of Ohio State University. Thomas was the NFL receptions leader in 2018 and 2019 and a three-time NFL Pro Bowler. Up until the 2020 season, Thomas had four consecutive seasons of over 1,000 receiving yards. Quickly becoming one of Drew Brees' favorite targets.