Washington placed Thomas (knee) on injured reserve Wednesday, ruling him out for the rest of the 2021 season.
Nicki Jhabvala of The Washington Post reported Monday that Thomas' initial MRI revealed that he avoided an ACL tear of his left knee, and while that hasn't been confirmed one way or the other, the tight end is evidently dealing with a serious enough health concern that he'll be done for the season after landing on IR for a second time. While Thomas was on IR earlier this season due to a strained hamstring, Ricky Seals-Jones averaged four catches for 38.4 yards and 0.2 touchdowns on six targets across five starts (Weeks 5 through 10). However, Seals-Jones then missed Weeks 11 through 13 with a hip injury, allowing rookie John Bates to get more playing time. It isn't entirely clear Seals-Jones will return to a three-down role if he's available for this week's game against Dallas, but he offers more promise than Bates as a pass catcher.