The New Orleans Saints were without their top two wide receivers, Michael Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders, in their 26-23 win over the Chicago Bears. They were also missing Marquez Callaway, who led the team in targets and receiving yards in their previous game against the Carolina Panthers.
The Saints still found a way to win as Drew Brees largely leaned on his running backs and tight ends (20 of 31 completions). There is hope, however, that the Saints will have some of their pass-catchers back for an important divisional game against the Tampa Buccaneers on Sunday night. Zach Strief, the Voice of the Saints, thinks Thomas will play for the first time since Week 1, which was the Saints first match-up against Tampa Bay.
“At the end of the day, Mike Thomas should be back against the Bucs,” Strief said. “I'm hoping that he is back because the Saints are going to need to be as close to full strength as possible against the Bucs.”
The Bucs are sitting at 5-2 and have looked impressive of late. They blew out the Packers 38-10 and the Raiders 45-20 in their last two games. New Orleans, of course, did beat Tampa Bay 34-23 the first time around; and having Thomas back in action would be a boon against the Bucs' best-in-the-league defense.
Thomas has had a rough go of it this season with an injury, a suspension, and another injury.
“He pulled his hamstring in practice,” Strief said. “It's unfortunate. It happened as he was trying to come back [from a high-ankle sprain]. Obviously there was a suspension in there. It's a series of unfortunate events.
“It sounds like Chauncey [Gardner-Johnson] and Mike got after it,” Strief continued. “Mike did something stupid just like Wims did yesterday.”
Strief was referencing an incident that happened after a play midway through the third quarter. Bears wide receiver Javon Wims punched Saints defensive back Chauncey Gardner-Johnson and was quickly ejected.
“It's incredibly stupid; it's going to be very expensive,” Strief said. “I assume you're not going to see him on the field next week for the Bears. It's an incredibly stupid decision that was made. For the life of me, I understand things get heated, guys get upset, it just shows a total lack of control.”
Thomas reportedly got into an altercation with Gardner-Johnson in practice, which earned him a one game suspension. That was addressed; and the team has moved on, though. Now it's just a matter of Thomas being healthy enough to play.
