For a young receiver, earning the trust of a future Hall of Fame quarterback is vital. Saints rookie Michael Thomas already gained more than a modicum of confidence from Drew Brees.
"His improvement over these six practices has been awesome," Brees said, via The Times-Picayune. "From Day 1 until now, the same mistakes are not being made. He's on to the next set of challenges, and he's continuing to progress well."
One instance during OTAs stood out to Brees, who relayed the story to reporters Thursday. On a third-down play during practice, the quarterback signaled for the rookie to scrap an 18-yard route that had been called and adjust it to a deep streak.
Thomas performed the fake and route with aplomb, which impressed his quarterback.
"I gave him a route that we have literally never repped before together," Brees said. "In fact, I don't think we'd ever even talked about it. But I was just in the moment, and he's my guy at that position, so I gave him the signal. He goes and makes the play and ran the route just like I imagined."
The 6-foot-3 receiver was drafted in part to help replace Marques Colston, especially in the red zone. It might not happen out of the gate, but having an early rapport with the starting quarterback is a solid first step towards a productive first campaign. Getting raved about is the cherry on top.
"After practice ends, we are getting a lot of extra reps together, where it is just us two, focusing in on a certain concept or split or footwork or look," Brees said. "You can tell it is all starting to register. Once he picks it up, he gets it."
