Alvin Kamara is now the latest New Orleans Saints player to come to the defense of Michael Thomas amid the wideout's injury-riddled season.
On Thursday, the Saints made the call to place Thomas on injured reserve due to his dislocated toe injury, which he suffered during the Week 3 road defeat to the Carolina Panthers. After Thomas was sidelined for the past five games, the Saints decided that it was best to plan to have him undergo surgery for his toe injury, and as head coach Dennis Allen noted on Thursday, the wideout may not feature in a game again this season.
Kamara has seen the outside criticism that Thomas has received in recent days, and during a press conference on Friday, he took some time to shed light on what the three-time Pro Bowler has been dealing with as of late.
“It just sucks to have a player of that caliber, an elite player that obviously works hard and is passionate about the game, kind of got hit with some unlucky things,” Kamara said. “I just saw a couple of comments in the media about him, basically like, ‘You can’t trust him,' or ‘He is not being honest about his injury, why is he waiting until now to be ruled out.'
“Nobody knows what we go through in here. … It’s a lot of s**t we gotta go through. A player like that fighting to get back not only for his team but for the fans and this city, and for people to be talking s**t, it irks my soul to see that. … We want to be available, but when you can’t do it, it’s certain things you gotta be smart about.”
Kamara also added that Thomas “was trying to play last week,” even as the wideout continued to nurse his ailment and did not take part in a single practice session ahead of the Week 8 home matchup against the Las Vegas Raiders.
Barring a surprise return later this season, Thomas will go on to miss a combined 40 games over the past three campaigns. For now, the likes of Chris Olave and Marquez Callaway will have to continue to step up for the NFC South side in Thomas’ absence.
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