Saints' Michael Thomas Says His Body Rejected Hardware, Slowed Healing from Injuries

New Orleans Saints wide receiver Michael Thomas enters the 2023 season fully healthy for the first time in three years after undergoing multiple surgeries to deal with various ailments.

Speaking with ESPN's Katherine Terrell, Thomas said that his recovery time from those surgeries was impacted by his body rejecting the hardware that was inserted to help him heal.

"I don't want to use this as an excuse," Thomas said. "But also, when you get surgeries and they put hardware in, sometimes your body rejects the hardware."

He added: "Your body responds and healing responds to it. Whatever, I guess is, the 1 percent? I guess I'm in that category."

Thomas suffered an ankle injury during Week 1 of the 2020 season and he was limited to just seven games because of the ailment. He tried to rehab his ankle without surgery during the offseason but eventually underwent a procedure in June 2021 to repair a torn deltoid and other ligaments in his left ankle.

The 30-year-old then missed the entire 2021 season due to setbacks in his recovery.

Thomas returned ready to go for the 2022 campaign but he appeared in just three games before dislocating a toe in his right foot and undergoing season-ending surgery. He had hardware removed from his toe this offseason, allowing him to take part in training camp.

In 10 games across the last three seasons, Thomas caught 56 passes for 609 yards and three touchdowns.

Prior to 2020, Thomas earned three Pro Bowl selection and was named the Offensive Player of the Year in 2019 after catching 149 passes for 1,725 yards and nine touchdowns in 16 games.

Entering 2023, there are questions about whether Thomas will return to form and whether or not he will remain healthy.

Luckily for the Saints, they no longer need to rely solely on the veteran receiver in the passing game with the additions of 2022 first-round pick Chris Olave, Rashid Shaheed, Tre-Quan Smith and A.T. Perry.

Tight ends Juwan Johnson, Foster Moreau and Jimmy Graham are also more than capable of moving the chains.

At this point, the Saints will likely be happy with whatever they can get from Thomas in 2023 as they hope to return to the postseason for the first time since the 2020 campaign.