When Seahawks safety Earl Thomas talks, it’s usually worth listening, and that was the case again on Thursday. Thomas talked about what he feels like the defense needs to get back to doing, how his team might have take home-field advantage for granted and more. Here’s the transcript:
(On if this is one of those games where you can’t wait to get back out and play because of what happened on Sunday) “Yeah, it definitely is. When you take a loss like that and you know you had a chance to win the game, you definitely want to play again. I think everybody’s focused. I think sometimes adverse situations bring you closer as a group. It makes you understand what you need to get better at, because sometimes when you win you don’t look at the little bitty details that you really need to.”
(On what those little bitty details are that you are seeing when you look at stuff that isn’t feeling quite right) “To be totally honest, the two games that we lost, to me, as far as the defensive side of the ball, it’s just character issues when it gets tough like that. We’re a new team; we’re not like last year. We have to understand who we are when situations get tough and not stray from the men we say we are.”
(On how he instills that outlook onto his teammates) “Just leading by example. I was excited to get to practice after that tough loss to see the big picture, it’s not over. I’m excited about learning about what I need to get better at. Sometimes those times when you lose, you’re closer to the final product than you think and when you lose like that it opens your eyes, to be like, ‘man, if I pressure myself and challenge myself’ because I’d rather be aggressive and go down, if somebody beat me if I’m being aggressive because I can learn from that and I have no regrets afterwards.”
(On if he sensed any of these character issues last year at all) “Well it’s not even that, I have a different perspective on things now. It’s the same sense when last year when we had a little stretch where everybody said we couldn’t stop the run because teams were being successful. The thing with us is we have to understand that we’re very aggressive when we’re attacking the football as far as our pursuit, and when we play patient running backs like DeMarco Murray and this guy Zac Stacy we’re playing this week, we always struggle a little bit but we have to understand who we are.”
(On if he’s seen the response in practice this week that he hoped to see) “You know, I’ve been in my bubble and I’ve been in a good zone. I’ve just been focusing on owning my role, trying to lead the best possible way and encourage guys.”
(On with new guys in at cornerback because of injuries, if he has to do anything to get them ready to play) “Yeah, this makes me a better communicator, this makes me a better player, and also we trust everybody that we trot out there. We prepare so well here and that’s what we bank on. We bank on every rep that we do in practice and we feel that we have the confidence. We have the right to be confident just in the way that we prepare for games. We’re not going to miss a beat. We’re going to be OK.”
(On Doug Baldwin saying that the team isn’t as good as they think they are and if he agrees with that) “Well I don’t agree with that. I think I’m good and I’m going to stay thinking I’m good. The only thing about it is, if I was to take what Doug said, I think if you don’t come out there with the right mentality then you can get your butt whooped. Maybe we took home field-advantage for granted. When you play at home, ‘okay, we’re going to get this dub,’ you know but I always think we’re going to win, whether we’re on the road or whether we’re here.”
(On his impression of Tharold Simon when he’s had a chance to play with him) “He has a chance to be really, really, really good. He has a chance to come in and start. In my eyes, he’s that type of player. He’s very long. He understands football. He fits right in with Sherm. It’s hard to fit those tight passes—because in the NFL, this is a game of inches—and when you have big, tall defenders like that that are aggressive, just like BB, he’s a bigger Brandon Browner, he’s just like Brandon Browner, so we will see.”
(On if it’s just about staying patient with the cutback running) “Yeah, patience. In this scheme, everything is tied on a string. The games that we struggled, it always looks like everybody’s trying to make somebody else right. But that’s when that trust comes in. Even us in the secondary, in a goal-line situation, sometimes we’re not trusting each other, and that’s why touchdowns are happening. If we’re not tied on a string, if it doesn’t look like that triangle offense, as far as, I’m the cornerstone and we’ve got Sherm and whoever we’ve tried out there on trot other side, we’ve all got to be tied on a string, if not, we’re struggling.”
(On how that happens) “Understanding your job but what needs to be done on that certain play. Reading your keys and reacting, not guessing, seeing it happen and react.”
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