The good news was easy to see Wednesday afternoon at Saints practice: Michael Thomas was back in action.
The star wide receiver had been absent from practice for nearly two weeks following what head coach Dennis Allen described as "a little bit of a hamstring," but he showed no limitations as he rejoined his team Wednesday, the first session open to the media since the previous week.
Thomas was active in stretches and the early drills during the portion of practice open to the media. It's unknown whether his participation was limited in any way, though that will be clarified on the season's first injury report later in the day.
The return comes at an opportune time, with the slate of Week 1's practices serving as important ramp-up and install ahead of the season-opener against the Falcons on Sept. 11 in Atlanta. As of Wednesday, all indications are that Thomas will see his first NFL action in more than a year when the Saints take the field for Week 1. Thomas hasn't been on the field for a game since an NFC Divisional Round loss to the Bucs in the 2020 playoffs, stemming from an ankle injury suffered earlier in the season.
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TAKING ATTENDANCE
ABSENT
- RB Dwayne Washington
- CB Paulson Adebo
- OL Tanner Owen
- CB Vincent Gray (practice squad)
PRESENT BUT DID NOT PARTICIPATE
- OT Landon Young
- WR Tre'Quan Smith
KIRK'S NEW NUMBER
One more thing to note is that practice squad WR Kirk Merritt appears to be leaning closer to his running back roots, switching from No. 85 to No. 33, which had previously been worn by Abram Smith. Another practice squad member in TE Lucas Krull has also changed his number. He's now wearing No. 87 after donning No. 44 throughout camp.
Despite reports that Mark Ingram and Jarvis Landry were switching to Nos. 22 and 5, respectively, the pair was still wearing No. 5 and No. 80 as of Wednesday.