After a long offseason of recovery, Earl Thomas III is back patrolling the place he loves the most: Area 29 in the Seattle Seahawks secondary.

Exactly seven months after sustaining a torn labrum in his left shoulder in the NFC championship game on Jan. 18, ET III returned to practice on Tuesday wearing a red no-contact jersey. Afterward, he told the media that watching from the sidelines was one of the most difficult experiences in his five-year NFL career.

“It’s been very tough. A lot of negative thoughts in my mind,” Earl said. “I was debating if I still loved it at one point. But being out here today, it reassured me that I love it. I just need to be out here. I just need to be involved…I think I was a little burnt out, but I think God did it on purpose. I needed this.”

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The road to recovery didn’t begin immediately after he separated his shoulder in the win over the Green Bay Packers. No. 29 missed just one series in that contest while the Seattle training staff put his shoulder back in place. He then went on to play two weeks later in Super Bowl XLIX. When the season was over, he was evaluated further, and it was determined that surgery was necessary to repair the injury.

Earl went under the knife on Feb. 24, undergoing a procedure that typically calls for a recovery period of 6-8 months. He began training camp on the physically unable to perform list, but that status was lifted on Aug. 5.

It was an unfamiliar feeling for Earl, who has played in 90 straight games between the regular and postseason since being drafted by the Hawks in 2010. In addition to never missing a game, Earl has missed just two series throughout his career.

“I was trying to be happy for [my teammates], but I was fighting demons in my head,” Earl said of his time watching from the sidelines. “So like I said, it just felt good to be back out here today.”

The 26-year-old did his best during that off period to embrace his role as a coach and mentor for his younger teammates, and particularly the rest of the Legion of Boom, but it was a struggle at times. However, the feeling of finally getting back out on the field lifted that burden and showed him just how much he still loves the game of football.

“As soon as I got around my teammates, as soon as I got back on the field,” ET said of his love for the game returning. “Today was the perfect example for me. I felt like a little kid again just running around there. It felt good.”

The L.O.B. got a major boost with the return to ET, but he’s still hoping for a quick return of another Legion founder. Strong safety Kam Chancellor remains in a contract holdout, and Earl revealed to the media that he recently told Kam to come home.

“I just keep sending him text messages,” ET said of his fellow L.O.B.’er. “I haven’t talked to him in a couple of weeks, but last time I talked to him, I just said, ‘Come home. We miss you.’ I know I miss him.”

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DeShawn Shead, Steven Terrell and Dion Bailey have been among the players filling in for both Earl and Kam at the safety positions. ET praised those players in the media, noting that he has seen growth in all of his fellow defensive backs through this process, himself included. But of course, the return of No. 29 has been a nice moral boost.

“I’m just happy that I got a chance to go out there today,” Earl said. “My teammates were happy that I was out there. It just felt good to run around…I’m just happy that they’ve taken the handcuffs off me and let me do my job.”

As he and the rest of the organization have been all offseason, Earl is still eyeing a full return for his team’s Week 1 matchup against the St. Louis Rams on Sept. 13. He told the media that his main concern between now and then is mental preparation.

There is no timeline as to when ET III will shed the red uniform, but he remains in high spirits. He told the media that he doesn’t mind wearing the crimson non-contact jersey, which is a color of his fraternity, Kappa Alpha Psi.

“It’s not tough,” Earl said of the red non-contact jersey. “I look good in it. So I’m good.”

RELATED LINKS

  • Earl Thomas Training Camp Day 14 Press Conference (Seahawks.com, Aug. 18, 2015)
  • Free safety Earl Thomas returns to field on Day 14 of camp (Seahawks.com, Aug. 18, 2015)
  • Earl Thomas returns to practice after offseason shoulder surgery (710 ESPN, Aug. 18, 2015)
  • Earl Thomas returns to practice, shrugs off “demons” (Field Gulls, Aug. 18, 2015)
  • Earl Thomas says he ‘battled demons’ after injury (Post Intelligencer, Aug. 18, 2015)
  • Seahawks safety Earl Thomas returns to practice field (ESPN, Aug. 18, 2015)