Saints Discipline Michael Thomas, Ruled Out for Chargers Game

No Michael Thomas for the Saints for the fourth straight week.

The Saints will be holding Michael Thomas out of Monday Night Football's game against the Chargers, according to a Sunday afternoon report by ESPN's Adam Schefter. 

An update by the Saints confirmed that Thomas was ruled out, but listed that it was not injury related. The team is saying that it's due to team discipline, and Schefter reported that Thomas got into an altercation with a teammate, reportedly C.J. Gardner-Johnson, at practice this weekend.

Thomas hasn't been on the field since Week 1's win over the Buccaneers, as he left the game late after getting rolled up on after the play. He's been practicing more over the past couple of weeks, but it originally sounded like New Orleans was going to err on the side of caution with last year's Offensive Player of the Year.

New Orleans looked more like themselves on offense last week against the Lions, getting big production from Emmanuel Sanders and Tre'Quan Smith. It also helped that Drew Brees returned to form, as the Saints rattled off five straight scoring possessions after facing an early 14-0 deficit. They were down six starters last week, which included Thomas, Jared Cook (groin), and Andrus Peat (ankle) from the offense.

Look for the Saints to keep up the strong ground attack with Alvin Kamara and Latavius Murray, and others will have to step up in Thomas' absence. Honestly, even with the ankle injury, there was no need to rush Thomas back on the field facing an AFC opponent at Week 5 of the season. New Orleans is on their bye week after Monday night, and it comes at a perfect time.