Saints head coach Dennis Allen gives injury update on Michael Thomas

One of the biggest headlines rolling into the 2022 season for the New Orleans Saints is without a doubt, the health of their star receiver, Michael Thomas, who has been dealing with ankle issues for quite some time. He underwent serious ankle surgery in July of 2021 due to an injury he suffered in the 2020 season. Recent videos have shown him looking pretty sharp at camp, but he’s still got a bit to go in his rehab process as he still clearly rounds off his routes when cutting. But he’s not that far away from being 100 percent. Saints head coach Dennis Allen provided an update on his star receiver on Wednesday evening via John Hendrix–the New Orleans beat reporter for Sports Illustrated.

“I think he’s looked outstanding. Obviously, we’re still in a progression with him. He got some 7-on-7 today. We plan on continuing to progress that. Hopefully soon we’ll get on to some team work and keep rolling,” Allen said.

Thomas will be exciting to watch this fall with one of the best route runners in the game today–rookie wide receiver Chris Olave. Olave and Thomas will join former Cleveland Browns’ star receiver Jarvis Landry.

Michael Thomas defends his old head coach, Urban Meyer

Michael Thomas is skeptical of the reports about his former head coach Urban Meyer. After The Athletic released a story detailing a toxic work environment under Meyer while he was with the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Saints receiver took to Twitter to offer his thoughts.

“I feel like y’all just saying anything now about Urban,” Thomas wrote followed by an emoji that implied he believes the reports are lies.”

Thomas played under Meyer from 2012-15 at Ohio State, recording a career 113 catches, 1,602 yards receiving and 18 touchdowns. The New Orleans Saints selected him in the second round of the 2016 NFL Draft, and he has since gone on to make three Pro Bowl appearances in the NFL.

Michael Thomas and Urban Meyer enjoyed their most successful season together in 2015 when the Buckeyes defeated Oregon to win the national championship. Meyer continued to coach at Ohio State until the end of the 2018 season, when he resigned citing health reasons and after sexual assault allegations were brought against one of his longtime assistants. Meyer returned three years later, this time taking a job in the NFL as the Jaguars head coach.

On3’s Barkley Truax also contributed to this article.