Former New Orleans Saints wide receiver and current free agent Michael Thomas used some not-safe-for-work language via X (formerly known as Twitter) when he seemed to blame quarterback Derek Carr for receiver Chris Olave suffering a concussion during New Orleans' 23-22 loss to the Carolina Panthers that dropped what was once a 2-0 club to 2-7 on Sunday.
Carr is no stranger to taking social media shots delivered by Thomas. The signal-caller spoke following Sunday's defeat about Thomas' latest takes.
"I've had so many teammates over the years and he's like the one dude that didn't get along with me," Carr said about Thomas, as shared by ESPN's Katherine Terrell. "And I don't know what I did to him. I don't know why he feels that way. I'm sorry for whatever he's dealing with to make him feel like he's got to do that. I don't know."
Carr signed a four-year, $150M contract with $100M in total guarantees to join the Saints in March 2023. While he went 9-8 in his first season as New Orleans' QB1, he became a target for Thomas last December before the 2019 Offensive Player of the Year appeared to suggest in January that he suffered a season-ending knee injury because he was "set up by a bad ball" thrown by Carr during a November game.
New Orleans designated Thomas as a post-June 1 release this past offseason. Later in the spring, Carr revealed that he had reached out to Thomas regarding the receiver's previous social media posts.
"He's never called me during any of this," Carr said about Thomas following Sunday's loss. "My phone number has never changed. I've in fact called him on different occasions. Just to try. And sometimes you can try as hard as you want and it just doesn't work out. And that's OK, so I don't know why he feels any type of way. ...It's unfortunate. Especially coming from a player like that. But I wish him the best. I hope he gets on a team and does what he wants to do and loves it."
Back in the summer, individuals such as Bleacher Report's Matt Holder explained that New Orleans could consider moving on from Carr during the upcoming offseason. That was before the Saints endured a seven-game losing streak that resulted in them sharing the league's worst overall record with six other clubs.
"[If] what he's looking for is to put blame on me that I got Chris Olave hurt, he can put blame on me," Carr added about Thomas. "It's not going to change my day. I have a pit in my stomach any time one of my teammates goes down because I love them that much. No matter if I like them or not. And I happen to love Chris Olave. We have a great relationship, so any time that happens I feel sick to my stomach and I hate -- hate, and I don't use that word a lot -- but I hate moments like that."
As of Monday morning, DraftKings Sportsbook listed the Saints as 3.5-point underdogs for this coming Sunday's home game against the 6-3 Atlanta Falcons.
