The clock now begins on Earl Thomas’ long recovery from shoulder surgery.
The Seattle Seahawks’ All-Pro safety had a procedure Tuesday to repair a torn labrum from him dislocating his left shoulder early in the NFC championship Jan. 18. Thomas played the rest of that game and Super Bowl 49 on Feb. 1 with the injury.
Then apparently doctors had to wait for swelling to lessen in these three weeks since the Super Bowl before operating.
The Seahawks expect Thomas to return before the 2015 season begins in September. He has never missed a game in 90 starts since Seattle made him its 14th-overall pick out of Texas in 2010.
Head coach Pete Carroll said Friday at the NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis he wasn’t sure if Thomas would be back on the field in time for the preseason.
“It’s going to take a little bit,” Carroll said of his free safety’s recovery.
The estimated recovery time of six to eight months would mean Thomas could be coming back right around the start of the regular season the second week of September.
He and the Seahawks have a long way to go in recovery and rehabilitation before that. It is safe to presume Thomas won’t be fully participating at the start of training camp in late July toward August’s preseason games.
But something says he won’t miss a real game, not following a surgery in February.
Thomas – more accurately, an apparent confidant with access to his social-media accounts – posted a picture Tuesday of surgeons and attendants crowded around a patient operating with a scope.
“Starring ET3 lol” his tweet read attached to the Instagram photo.
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