Earl Thomas, Kris Richard on effort and chemistry

Seahawks free safety Earl Thomas posed some questions Thursday about the overall effort of the team. When asked if it’s fair to question whether everyone’s effort has been 100 percent, he replied:

“Yeah. I think I could put myself in that genre as well. I can be back-side, man-to-man, and the play’s happening way away from me, I can do a better job running to the ball.”

Why have those questions risen?

“I just think it’s kind of tough when you have so much success like we had, and you’ve been known for being this type of player, that type of player. Sometimes you’re not who you think you are in some cases. I just think overall we need to give it up for each other.”

Is this year’s team as hungry as the previous two years?

“I don’t know. When you ask me a question like that, I feel I have to go get a lie detector test and make everybody sit down and say, ‘Are you hungry, are you hungry, are you hungry?’ I don’t know, that’s a tough question.”

Is the chemistry in the secondary the same as it’s been?

“Of course not. I just think it’s an attitude. It’s a mindset. You’ve got to give it up for the next guy. It’s not showing up all the time like that.”

Has the message been sent in the locker room?

“It’s been sent. You’re talking about grown men here. They’ve got to make it up in their own minds so they can bring their best to the ball club.”

Despite Thomas’ words, Seattle defensive coordinator Kris Richard had a different take. When asked whether he saw the issues Thomas referred to, he replied:

“No. Not at all. It’s just a fact of we’ve broken down in areas that we haven’t done so before. Really it’s something that’s easily fixable. We just have to make sure we lock in and do our job longer, do our job better. We can’t go out there and look to make someone else’s play. We have to be where we’re supposed to be and the ball will come to us. As soon as you go out there and start hunting for other people’s opportunities, that’s when mistakes happen.”