Michael Thomas placed on injured reserve by Saints before Chiefs game

The Saints have placed wide receiver Michael Thomas on injured reserve.

The New Orleans Saints had already declared that All-Pro wide receiver Michael Thomas would be forced to miss the team’s upcoming game on Sunday afternoon against the visiting Kansas City Chiefs with an ankle injury. However, on Saturday, the team made it clear that Thomas wouldn’t be playing for the rest of the regular season when they placed him on injured reserve.

At this point, teams like the Saints and Chiefs can worry on one level about the regular season inasmuch as they desire to pursue potential positioning in terms of conference seeding and even chasing down the first-round bye that comes with the top seed. But when push comes to shove, the most important thing to consider is being healthy when the games truly count, which means the Saints had to grit their teeth and shut down Thomas officially to give their best pass catcher time to heal before the postseason.

The Saints have Super Bowl hopes just like their visiting counterparts on Sunday, so it makes sense that they would want to play it safe with Thomas at this point. However it does limit their offense as they go up against the Chiefs in a game that could be a Super Bowl preview. Both sides are hurting with Drew Brees coming back from several broken ribs to make the start for New Orleans while the Chiefs could be without both starting tackles as well as their swing tackle against a stout pass rush.

The Saints still have plenty of weapons for Drew Brees including Emmanuel Sanders, Alvin Kamara, Latavius Murray, Jared Cook and more. Still they will Thomas’ presence in the lineup, a go-to receiver who has led the team in receiving yards in each of the last four seasons. Thomas has 40 catches for 438 yards and 0 touchdowns in 2020 after leading the NFL with 1,725 receiving yards last season.