The Seattle Seahawks know how essential Earl Thomas III is to everything they do and everything they’re hoping to accomplish this season, so his return to the practice field — even in a limited manner — has brought a special kind of joy and energy to the Seattle sidelines.

Seahawks Practice

After participating in his first practice since undergoing offseason surgery on his shoulder, Earl immediately expressed how elated he was to be back on the field. But he wasn’t the only one at Seattle Seahawks camp buzzing about his return. Coach Pete Carroll recently detailed for the media how great it is to have his now healthy All-Pro free safety back tending to Area 29.

“Earl coming back, it’s really exciting to see him get some reps and get that focus out there that you can’t deny,” Carroll said. “He’s just so intense on the practice field so we’re bringing him back in hopes that we’re gauging him for the opener, and we’ll see how it goes.”

That gauging will be conducted exclusively in practice, as Earl will not participate in Seattle’s two remaining preseason games while he continues to rehab from offseason surgery. The surgery successfully repaired the torn labrum in his left shoulder suffered in the NFC Championship Game and Earl has continued to make progress in his recovery throughout training camp. He is currently working on strengthening his shoulder, and his mind, so he can be at 100 percent when the season kicks off.

The process has been slow, but steady since No. 29 was activated off the team’s physically unable to perform list on Aug. 5. Two weeks later on Aug. 18, he participated in practice, donning a red no-contact jersey.

“We’re just making sure that he has all of the time to gain all of the strength that he can, just to protect him,” Carroll said after Earl returned to practice last week. “So he’s healed and he can do everything right now…He’s getting a lot more work than he had.”

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No. 29 continued to participate in the same manner throughout that week, going into Seattle’s second preseason game against the Kansas City Chiefs. ET III’s energy has been felt as a player/coach on the sidelines when he is out, but his presence participating in drills has been a welcome boost because much of the active Seattle secondary is still relatively inexperienced.

With Kam Chancellor still away from the team in the midst of a contract holdout, Earl has been lining up at free safety alongside strong safety Dion Bailey, who spent time on the Seahawks practice squad last year after coming to the pros out of USC, but has not played a NFL game. Bailey is in line to start if Chancellor does not return to the team soon, and the young safety raved about Earl’s return and the experience of playing alongside him for the first time in training camp.

“It was surreal the first time he came back to practice and I lined up with him, because it’s a for-real possibility [for the season],” Bailey said. “I’ve done it in OTAs, but that’s so far out it doesn’t truly mean anything. Doing it now I’m like, ‘Wow! I am really out there playing with Earl!’ It’s just great. Dream come true.”

After sitting out the exhibition game against Kansas City last Friday, Earl took the field for his second week of practice this week still wearing that red non-contact jersey. That prompted questions from the media wondering when he will be back on the field in full. Carroll provided something of an update after Thursday’s Seahawks practice, noting that the team amped up Earl’s activity this week and that Seattle is still shooting for a return in time for the Sept. 13 season opener on the road against the St. Louis Rams.

“Earl got a lot of work this week,” Carroll said Thursday. “He’s getting ready to be in shape to play for the opener. His timing is getting down, his calls, and you can see him fitting in. His intensity that he brings is starting to show up. That’s important.”

Seahawks practice

The Seahawks’ secondary has been thin this preseason, without the presence of Earl and Chancellor. The defensive backs have also been fighting through some injuries—Earl, Chancellor, Richard Sherman, Tharold Simon and Will Blackmon were all inactive for last week’s preseason game against the Kansas City Chiefs. But Carroll was happy to report this week that the Legion of Boom is getting back to full strength.

“We’re on the verge of being really healthy,” Carroll said of his secondary. “We’re not in bad shape at all.”

Carroll says that the Seahawks are doing all they can to make sure Earl is on the field when the Hawks begin their quest for a third straight Super Bowl appearance. No. 29 hasn’t missed a NFL game yet in his five-year career, and he plans to makes his 91st consecutive start on Sept. 13.

“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,” Carroll said. “We were concerned about that, but he did a great job of handling that.”

RELATED LINKS

  • Earl Thomas on track to play in season opener (Pro Football Talk, Aug. 28, 2015)
  • Richard Sherman sees a positive in Seahawks’ secondary absences (Aug. 27, 2015)
  • Dion Bailey is Seahawks’ answer to Chancellor’s holdout (The Olympian, Aug. 26, 2015)
  • Pete Carroll Preseason Week 2 Thursday Press Conference (Seahawks.com, Aug. 20, 2015)
  • Carroll: Seahawks secondary on the verge of being really healthy (710 ESPN, Aug. 21, 2015)
  • Signs continue to point to Thomas being ready for opener (710 ESPN, Aug. 20, 2015)
  • Seahawks’ Earl Thomas aiming for Week 1 return (Post Intelligencer, Aug. 20, 2015)
  • Earl Thomas ready to shoulder regular-season load (The Olympian, Aug. 20, 2015)