Michael Thomas out, Jameis Winston doubtful for Vikings game in London
Big news Friday in London as New Orleans Saints head coach Dennis Allen said star wide receiver Michael Thomas (foot) will not play Sunday against the Vikings and quarterback Jameis Winston is doubtful with fractured vertebrae.
That puts Andy Dalton in line to start at quarterback.
Thomas leads the NFL with eight contested catches and already has three touchdowns despite rookie teammate Chris Olave being targeted by Winston far more through three games.
According to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, Thomas is actually dealing with a toe injury that "doesn't appear" to be serious. Nonetheless, his absence puts Olave and Jarvis Landry to be the top two receivers on the field. But that's only if Landry plays.
Landry (ankle) and star running back Alvin Kamara (ribs) are both questionable, in addition to starting guard Andrus Peat (concussion) and safety Marcus Maye (ribs) listed as out.
Dalton is playing for his third team in three years after spending 2011-2019 with the Bengalsl. Last year with the Bears he started six games and completed 63.1% of his passes for 1,515 yards, eight touchdowns and nine interceptions.
Related: Justin Jefferson faces another lockdown corner in London
Related: Matthew Coller: How does the Vikings' offense need to evolve?
Title: Bring Me The Sports co-owner, editor Email: joe@bringmethenews.com Twitter: @JoeBMTN Education: Southwest Minnesota State University Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota Expertise: All things Minnesota sports Nelson has covered Minnesota sports for two decades, starting his media career in sports radio. He worked at small market Minnesota stations in Marshall and St. Cloud before joining one of the nation's highest-rated sports stations, KFAN-FM 100.3 in the Twin Cities. There, he was the producer of the top-rated mid-morning sports show with Minnesota Vikings announcer Paul Allen. His radio experience helped blossom a career as a sports writer, joining Minneapolis-based Bring Me The News in 2011. Nelson and Adam Uren became co-owners of Bring Me The News in 2018 and have since more than tripled the site's traffic and launched Bring Me The Sports in cooperation with the Sports Illustrated/FanNation umbrella. Nelson has covered the Super Bowl and numerous training camps, NFL combines, the MLB All-Star Game and Minnesota playoff games, in addition to the day-to-day happenings on and off the field of play. Nelson also has extensive knowledge of non-sports subjects, including news and weather. He works closely with Bring Me The News meteorologist Sven Sundgaard to produce a bevy of weather and climate information for Minnesota readers. Nelson helped launch and manage the Bring Me The News Radio Network, which provided more than 50 radio stations around Minnesota with daily news, sports and weather reports from 2011-17.