Michael Thomas is no longer a member of the New Orleans Saints, but his social media game is still as nimble as ever.
Within moments after a ball sailed over Saints WR Chris Olave's hands and the subsequent hit to the head that left him concussed and unconscious on the field at Bank of America Stadium, tweets were flying to levy criticism at his former QB Derek Carr, continuing a long-running gripe about inaccurate passes getting players hurt.
"Dude tried to lie and say I was jealous of them making Chris WR1 whole time he can't even get him a decent ball," Thomas posted, referencing earlier comments from Carr when asked about previous social media tangents. "He need his a** whooped."
The comment was one of 10 or so posts or retweets surrounding Carr or the play during or after the game, which the Saints lost to the Panthers 23-22. The former Saints WR also wrote that he felt the team fired several assistant coaches last season to "cover [Carr's] flaws." Thomas, who has not signed with another team this season, played in the Saints first 10 games before suffering a knee injury on what he referred to as a "bad ball," and missed the remainder of the season. It became clear as the season went on that the relationship between QB and receiver was fractured beyond repair, something that Carr addressed in his postgame comments.
“I have love for Mike, you know, and when he does that, I don’t really care for it, obviously, you know, I’ve had so many teammates over the years and he’s like the one dude that didn’t get along with me, you know, and I don’t know – I don’t know what I did to him, I don’t know why he feels that way. I’m sorry, you know, for whatever he’s dealing with to make him feel like he’s got to do that," Carr said. "I don’t know, you know, but he’s never called me during any of this, you know, my phone number has never changed. You know, I’ve in fact called him on different occasions, you know, just to try and sometimes you can try as hard as you want and it just doesn’t work out, and that’s OK, so I don’t know why he feels any type of way. I didn’t see it. I won’t see it, because I always ignore everything, you know, good and bad, I try to ignore everything, so it’s unfortunate, especially coming from a player like that, but I wish him the best, I hope he gets on a team and does what he wants to do and loves it."
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The injury to Olave is especially concerning due to his history with concussions, with the latest marking his fourth in this three-year NFL career, with three different quarterbacks. His first came in 2022 on a pass from Andy Dalton on a touchdown catch against the Seahawks with Olave's head colliding with the turf. The next one was on a ball thrown by Carr high and to the boundary, with Olave coming down hard on his head. The former Ohio State standout suffered another concussion earlier this season on a ball thrown by Spencer Rattler during a loss to the Bucs, another instance of a head-to-head hit. Olave was also checked for a concussion after a hard hit during a loss to the Chargers, but he was cleared and returned to the game.
Olave made a helmet change prior to that Chargers game and considered wearing a Guardian cap, something allowed by the NFL this year, but opted not to this week. After the hit, which was flagged for a personal foul, Olave lost consciousness briefly on the field before being taken off on a backboard and transported to an area hospital for further evaluation. His tests went well and he was back with the team for the trip home, but his immediate and long-term NFL future will certainly be a question due to the repeated head injuries.
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Carr addressed the throw after the game.
“Any time my receivers get hurt I feel it in the pit of my stomach, and so if what [Thomas] wants me to say or what he’s looking for is to put blame on me that I got Chris Olave hurt, he can put blame on me. It’s not gonna change my day," Carr said. "I have a pit in my stomach any time one of my teammates goes down because I love them that much, no matter if I like them or not, and I happen to love Chris Olave and we have a great relationship, so, you know, any time that happens I feel sick to my stomach and I hate, hate and I don’t use that word a lot, but I hate moments like that. So to be clear about that part, I hated it happening, it makes me sick any time that happens, whether it’s – whether they don’t get up or they do get up. I don’t like that, you know, you try your best to never put someone in that situation and over the course of my career it hasn’t happened that many times, so thankful it hasn’t, so I don’t know. I’m sorry that I had to even answer these questions. I wish we could’ve made it better. I wish it would’ve never happened. I wish I could’ve made Mike happier, you know, but it was hard to do.”
Regardless of the veracity of Mike T's claims, there's no denying that the Saints find themselves in an incredible negative situation with their 2024 season slipping away. The Saints have now lost seven consecutive games after a 2-0 start, the longest skid for the franchise since Mike Ditka's final season as head coach in 1999. The Saints will likely be without Olave for the foreseeable future and already have the other Week 1 starting WR Rashid Shaheed on injured reserve.
At 2-7 the Saints are currently tied with six other teams, including the Panthers, for the worst record in the NFL. Their next chance to end the skid will come at the Caesars Superdome against the Atlanta Falcons.