2 min read • August 12, 2021
Posted in
New Orleans Saints
Offense
WR Michael Thomas -
Why did Michael Thomas and the Saints delay ankle surgery until June? When things don't make sense from the outside, that usually just means we don't have all the information yet. Teams, players and medical staff are not stupid. They sometimes make decisions that don't work out, but no one intends to make a poor choice. It turns out Thomas went AWOL from the team for 3 months. Right now, the delay of ankle surgery seems to be a bad decision. The injury could have been healed by Week 1, but now his recovery will stretch well into the season. The Saints star wide receiver suffered a high ankle sprain in Week 1 last season and missed six games. He returned Week 9, but re-injured the same ankle in Week 14 and missed the last three regular season games. He played in the Saints’ Wild Card round victory over the Bears before being held catch-less in the Saints’ Divisional round loss to the Buccaneers. It was widely reported that he was likely to need surgery to his deltoid ligament and high ankle. There were no reports of surgery until now. Unfortunately, with the report of ligament repair, this will knock Thomas out for a major portion of the season. Expect him to start the season on the Reserve/PUP list, meaning a minimum six-week absence. It would be good news if he could return to form by midseason. It would not surprise me if he missed a majority of games and might not return to 100% until late. Before everyone jumps on Thomas or his doctors, let's get the whole story. Perhaps the thinking was that the ankle would heal with more rest, but that just never happened. Thomas was said to be rehabbing during mini-camp. In my time as a head team physician, we often tried to let injuries heal in the offseason. However, I would set a timeline. For example, I would let a player who might need an ankle scope go until June, as the recovery would be anticipated to be 4-6 weeks. For an ankle ligament repair surgery, I would have set that timeline much earlier, in March, due to the potential 4-6 month recovery. If the team doctors did anything wrong (NB: we have not come to that conclusion), the Saints won't be shy about it. Head coach Sean Payton has publicly fired his orthopedic doctors over less. In the end, we will ultimately find out what happened. Right now, the Saints -- already without Drew Brees -- have taken another major blow, rumors now confirmed that he had ducked Saints brass all offseason. The point is now the Saints will be lucky to have a healthy Thomas for the back half of the season.
Offensive Line
OL Andrus Peat -
The oft-injured OL missed three total games in 2020 due to a bothersome ankle and concussion. In 2019, he missed 6 games with a broken arm, but returned in time for the Saints' playoff loss. He starts this season healthy and is part of an elite offensive line group heading into the new season.
Defense
DE Marcus Davenport -
The Saints defensive end started 2020 on injured reserve due to a left elbow injury. He missed the first 4 games, then missed another due to a concussion. In 11 games, Davenport finished with 21 combined tackles and 1.5 sacks. With DE Trey Hendrickson off to Cincinnati, Davenport is expected to shoulder more of the load up front and starts the year off healthy.
Special Teams
K Will Lutz -
The Saints K will undergo core muscle surgery and will likely begin the season on PUP/IR. This type of surgery affects kickers profoundly as they explode through the ball. The recovery for a kicker is longer than other positions and at this point, we believe this injury will knock him out for at least half the season. He could possibly be out for longer meaning the Saints will be looking for a firm option at kicker.
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