Thomas spoke after practice about how hard his rehab has been, and said that being on the sidelines created a few “demons” within. Thomas isn’t expected to play Friday against the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium in the Seahawks’ second preseason game (5 p.m. Pacific, Q/13 FOX). This late into the exhibition-game season it’s likely that will be the starting unit for next week’s third preseason game at San Diego, the usual final “dress rehearsal” for the regular season. It’s unclear whether he’ll be all the way back in time for week one, although Coach Pete Carroll said having Thomas on the field for the opener remains what the Seahawks are aiming for.
Advertisement
“He’s healed. We are just making sure he has all of the time to regain all of his strength”.
For the first time since he underwent surgery to fix a torn labrum in his shoulder, Earl Thomas returned to the practice field for 11-on-11 drills on Tuesday. “He’s healed and he can do everything right now”. “Being out here today, it reassured me that I love it. I just need to be out here”.
“I’m just happy that I got a chance to go out there today”, he said.
“I’m just happy that they’ve taken the handcuffs off me and let me kind of do my job”.
Carroll said he wants to see the starters play more “cleanly” and to take care of the football better.
Thomas recorded 97 tackles, three forced fumbles and one interception last season. Of the 19 players who weren’t in uniform for the game, more than half were defensive backs including All Pros Richard Sherman (hip) and Earl Thomas (shoulder).
Advertisement
Throw in the fact that another four safeties sat out Friday’s game if you include holdout Kam Chancellor and you could get pretty darn anxious about the state of Seattle’s secondary.
