Seattle Seahawks safety Earl Thomas is reportedly making "steady progress" in his return from post-Super Bowl shoulder surgery, but that doesn't mean Hawks fans should expect to see the high-flying ballhawk back on the field any time soon. Thomas is not only not expected to be cleared for Seattle's training camp this month, his status for the team's season opener is also now in doubt, according to Ed Werder of ESPN.
Thomas, 26, entered the league as Seattle's first-round pick, No. 14-overall, in the 2010 NFL Draft. Over his first five professional seasons Thomas has turned himself into one of the highest impact secondary players in the league, possibly eclipsed only by two of the other members of his very own Seahawk backfield - safety Kam Chancellor and cornerback Richard Sherman.
The 5-foot-10, 202-pound Thomas finished last year for the Legion of Boom with 97 tackles, three forced fumbles, one interception and six passes defensed in the regular season. He added another 25 tackles, two passes defensed and one forced fumble during the team's run to the Super Bowl.
Impressively, Thomas has not only proven to be an elite player, he's also been incredibly durable during his NFL career thus far. He's played in all 16 games over the last five years and also appeared in a total of 10 postseason contests.
Of course, with this news from Werder, it means Thomas' streak of starts could potentially be in jeopardy to start the 2015 NFL season. While Seattle is working on locking up linebacker Bobby Wagner and unlikely to feel too deep of a string from the loss of second corner Byron Maxwell, who signed a lucrative free agent contract with the Eagles this offseason, there's no doubting that missing Thomas would potentially hurt significantly.
Considering Chancellor (knee) and Sherman (elbow) were also banged up pretty severely at the end of last season and also considering their integral contributions to the team's overall success, it's likely head coach Pete Carroll and the rest of the Hawks coaching staff are willing to take it slow with Thomas' recovery.
