How Saints QB Derek Carr handled criticism from Michael Thomas

New Orleans Saints quarterback Derek Carr spoke with Patrick Magee of The Times-Picayune about how he handled criticism from former New Orleans wide receiver Michael Thomas across their one season together. 

"I will say this, first and foremost, every time he did something, I just called him," Carr said about Thomas. "I called him right away and said, 'What are you doing?' You know? That’s how I am, and I don’t need to get into more of that, because you’ve got people out there, I’m getting tagged in things, 'Well, if you had a problem, you should have called him.' Well, I did. I am a man, and I handled it man to man."

Thomas generated headlines during New Orleans' loss to the Detroit Lions in early December when he seemed to criticize Carr via X (formerly known as Twitter). In January, Thomas appeared to suggest in a social media post that he suffered a season-ending knee injury in November because he was "set up by a bad ball" thrown by Carr. 

Carr signed a four-year, $150M contract with $100M in total guarantees to join the Saints in March 2023. New Orleans designated Thomas as a post-June 1 release this past March. 

"And every time it ended with, 'Love you, love you bro, we’re good,' but there’s just some things you can’t control," Carr said about his former teammate. "So you sleep good at night knowing what’s right and what’s correct and what’s not. But that kind of stuff just doesn’t have a place when you’re trying to build a team." 

The Saints started the 2023 season at 5-7 but won four of their last five games to finish at 9-8. As shared by Myles Simmons of Pro Football Talk, Saints executive vice president and general manager Mickey Loomis indicated during a recent appearance on SiriusXM NFL Radio that Carr will "feel more comfortable" in a leadership role now that he's in his second year with the organization as Thomas is looking for work elsewhere. 

"I never once pointed out any of his mistakes," Carr added about Thomas. "I forever will make mistakes in football games. So will every player ever. It’s one thing to do that. It’s another thing to think you’re calling something out when it’s not even there."