Coach Pete Carroll had hinted of Thomas’ possible return soon on Monday, and as practice began Tuesday Thomas was back out there, but wearing the same red jersey as do the team’s quarterbacks, indicating that he is off-limits to contact.
Advertisement
It’s still uncertain whether Thomas will be available for the Seahawks’ regular-season opener September 13 at St. Louis. “We’ll see. It’s worked out fine”. 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).
“He’s taken to it. Earl’s the kind of guy that you have to put the governor on, because he’s going to go full speed. We’re concerned about that, but he did a great job of handling that, so we’ll increase his reps next week quite a bit”.
“He’s healed. We are just making sure he has all of the time to regain all of his strength”. And he had a remark that Carroll seemed to be addressing today.
“It was very tough, because I was trying to be happy for them, but I was fighting demons in my head”, Thomas said. “My teammates were happy that I was out there and it just felt good to run around”. But with Seattle set to play in their second pre-season game this Friday in Kansas City, that goal is becoming increasingly unlikely.
The first-team offensive line Friday is expected to be the same as it’s been all week: Garry Gilliam at right tackle, J.R. Sweezy at right guard, Drew Nowak at center, Justin Britt at left guard and Russell Okung at left tackle.
Advertisement
“We’ve got to take care of the football better”, Carroll said. With safety Kam Chancellor in the middle of a contract holdout, the Seahawks could be without both of their starting safeties next month.
