Derek Carr is returning some fire at his former teammate.
Ex-New Orleans Saints receiver Michael Thomas made headlines on Sunday for openly criticizing Carr in the middle of New Orleans’ game against the Carolina Panthers. During the first quarter, Carr threw a high pass over the middle to wide receiver Chris Olave, who was unable to make the catch and proceeded to take a very brutal hit to the head from Panthers safety Xavier Woods (video here). Olave had to be carted off the field and was ultimately diagnosed with his second concussion of the season.
That led to Thomas going on a rant to his X page in which he issued several critical posts about Carr. You can read Thomas’ rant in full here.
After the game, which New Orleans ultimately lost 23-22, Carr was asked by reporters about the posts by Thomas, who remains an unsigned free agent.
“I have love for Mike,” said Carr. “When he does that, I don’t really care for it obviously. I’ve had so many teammates over the years, and he’s like the one dude that didn’t get along with me. 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 gotta do that. I don’t know.
“But he’s never called me during any of this,” continued Carr of Thomas. “My phone number has never changed. I’ve in fact called him on different occasions just to try. Sometimes you can try as hard as you want, and it just doesn’t work out, and that’s OK. I don’t know why he feels any type of way. I didn’t see it [the posts]. I won’t see it. Because I always ignore everything, good and bad. I try to ignore everything. It’s unfortunate especially coming from a player like that. But I wish him the best. I hope he gets on a team … But it’s just something that I wouldn’t ever do to a teammate.”
You can see the full clip of Carr’s response below.
NOLA QB Derek Carr responding to tweets from former #Saints WR Michael Thomas sent during the game about his pass being the reason Chris Olave suffered another concussion.
h/t @Kat_Terrell with the question pic.twitter.com/JWFwtCkodw
— Fletcher Mackel (@FletcherWDSU) November 3, 2024
Carr and Thomas were teammates on the Saints for just the 2023 season, but that was apparently more than enough for bad blood to brew. Thomas was very critical of New Orleans’ offensive issues throughout that season, and then when the Saints cut him during the offseason, he made sure to trash both Carr and the team over social media in a previous incident.
The former Pro Bowler Carr probably deserves some legitimate criticism for sailing that ball on Olave and putting him in a very dangerous position that ultimately resulted in a concussion. But considering the way that Thomas’ tenure with the Saints ended, he may have just been looking for another excuse here to rag on his former team and his former teammate Carr.
