St. Olav suffered a concussion; Carr responds to Thomas’s words

CHARLOTTE, North Carolina — New Orleans Saints wide receiver Chris Olav flew home with the team on Sunday after being evaluated at a local hospital for his second concussion of the season.

Olave entered the league’s concussion protocol for the fourth time in his NFL career after taking a hit to the head midway through the first quarter against the Saints. 23-22 loss to Carolina Panthers.

“Thank God, who appreciates all love & prayers that it will be well”, Olave wrote on his account X after the game

Olave was hit in the head and neck by Panther security Xavier Woods while trying to catch a high pass from a defender Derek Carr through the middle of the field. Woods was flagged for unnecessary roughness on the play, his ninth such penalty since entering the NFL in 2017, the most in the league during that span.

Olave did not get off the ground after the pass and was eventually strapped to a shield, placed on a gurney and wheeled off the field before being taken to hospital. Players from both teams gathered around Olave and the medical staff as they worked on him, and he high-fived his teammates before being carted off.

Former Saints wide receiver Michael Thomas blamed Carr for Olav’s concussion in posts on his X account.

“Dude. Scared, panic and just throw the ball,” Thomas wrote amid a series of tweets about Carr, “Get him out of here, he’s such an ass.”

Thomas, who was released by the Saints in March after eight seasons, has criticized Carr several times this year on social media. In January, he wrote that he was “set up by a bad ball,” referring to a season-ending injury that occurred after he caught a pass from Carr in November 2023.

At the time, Thomas also said the Saints weren’t trying to get him the ball. Carr addressed Thomas’ tweets in an interview in February and said he wished Thomas had called him instead. At the time, Carr said he thought Thomas was disappointed that Olave was getting most of the first-team reps in training last season.

“Dude tried to lie and say I was jealous of them making Chris a WR1, all the while he couldn’t even get him a decent ball. He needs his ass booed,” Thomas wrote on Sunday.

After the loss to the Panthers, Carr said that “he loves” Thomas but was “not too bothered” by his comments.

“I’ve had so many teammates over the years and he’s like the only guy that didn’t get along with me. And I don’t know what I did with it. I don’t know why he feels that way. I’m sorry for what he’s dealing with to make him feel like he has to do that,” Carr said. “I don’t know. But he never called me during all this. My phone number has never changed. In fact, I called him on various occasions. Just try it. And sometimes you can try as hard as you want and AND that’s okay, so I don’t know why I don’t see it. I try to ignore everything. This is especially true for a player like that, but I hope he gets into the team and loves it.

Carr added: “It’s just something I would never do to a teammate. As the ball was one high, the ball went where we were talking and Chris unfortunately got hit in the head. This happens in our game and I would never do it on purpose. I didn’t give him a bad look… When it comes to the football aspect, I really don’t have an answer for that. I just hope he gets what he’s looking for.”

Carr said he gets a sick feeling in his stomach every time one of his receivers gets hurt, but admitted Thomas can blame him if he wants to.

“(If) he wants to blame me for hurting Chris Olaf, he can blame me,” Carr said. “It’s not going to change my day. My stomach churns every time one of my teammates goes down because I love them so much. Whether I like them or not. And I happen to love Chris Olaf. great relationship so every time this happens it makes me sick to my stomach and i hate…hate and i rarely use that word but i hate moments like this.

“So to be clear about that part, I hate that this is happening. It makes me sick every time this happens, whether they get up or they get up. I don’t like it. You try your best to never put anyone in that situation. And during my career it happened not so many times. I wish this had never happened, I could have made Mike happier.

Carr said he checked on Olave in the locker room after the game “to make sure he was OK.”

Thomas’ post caught the attention of Olave’s brother Josh, who reposted Thomas’ post, denying that he was jealous of Olave with the “100” emoji.

Josh Olave also responded to a question on Twitter about whether he and his brother should have “is it worth it?” speak.

“It’s not worth it in Nola, I’ll tell you that,” Josh Olave replied.

In his rookie season in 2022, Olave was diagnosed with a concussion after being hit on a pass by then-defensive back Andy Dalton in the 5th week. He also suffered a concussion on a pass from Carr in Week 12 last year and after catching a pass from Spencer Rutler against Tampa Bay Buccaneers earlier this season.

Olave changed his helmet to a new model after missing the game with his latest concussion. However, he was hit hard against Los Angeles Chargers was evaluated in the medical tent last week and returned to action.