Seahawks’ Earl Thomas says he’s ready to go for Sunday’s opener

RENTON, Wash. – For the first time this season, there was a No. 31 on the Seahawks’ practice field Thursday.

But this one played running back. Marshawn Lynch honored Kam Chancellor by wearing the holdout safety’s jersey during practice at the team facility.

When the Seahawks line up for real Sunday at St. Louis, No. 31 again will be closeted away. Chancellor’s holdout reached 42 days Thursday with no sign that it will end soon. Chancellor was ruled out of the game Wednesday by coach Pete Carroll.

What the Seahawks will have on the field again Sunday, though, is jersey No. 29, worn by free safety Earl Thomas. He has not seen live action since undergoing surgery in February to repair a torn labrum suffered in the Super Bowl.

Thomas has practiced fully for a few weeks. Before practice Thursday, Thomas declared himself good to go for Sunday. He said he was motivated in part by not wanting to miss an NFL game – he has started all 80 (as well as eight playoff games) since being drafted by the Seahawks in 2010.

“I’ve got to keep the streak alive,” he said.

Sunday’s game, though, will mark just the fourth time he has started without Chancellor alongside him at strong safety. Chancellor missed one game due to injury in 2011 and two in 2014.

Thomas said it will be “very different” playing without Chancellor. Thomas also shared an interesting revelation about how the two have worked together.

“I depended on Kam to say, “You need to get on this side or that side,’ ” Thomas said, adding that being without Chancellor since camp began has “made me a little bit sharper. … It put me in my playbook a little bit more. I rely on instinct, and Kam was more the mental guy.”

On Sunday, it will be Thomas guiding Dion Bailey, who will see the first regular-season action of his NFL career, starting for Chancellor.

“The big thing is going to be his communication with Earl,” said Kris Richard, in his first year as the Seahawks’ defensive coordinator after working with the secondary the previous five seasons. “Just to make sure that all of our one-word meanings and things of that nature, that we are all on the same page.”

Thomas hopes the nature in which he plays will be the same.

The labrum tear was his first significant injury. He said he will play with a harness that could inhibit his ability to “high-point” the ball – meaning reach for it at its highest point. But after a few days of trying to convince the trainers he doesn’t need the harness, he said, “I came back to my senses.’’

Asked if he had any “trepidation” about hitting someone, Thomas joked that he doesn’t know what the word means.

“I’ve been hitting bags and doing a lot of rehab, and putting a lot of pressure on my shoulder, so I’m very confident in it,” Thomas said.

Richard sounded equally confident that Chancellor might return sooner rather than later.

“We stay in contact,” Richard said after Thursday’s practice. “And really, we are all encouraged by it. We want him here, he wants to be here. Right now, both sides are working. Everybody cares, everybody wants the right thing. Everybody wants him here.”

Chancellor told the NFL Network on Wednesday that the sides are less than $1 million apart and what he wants is to have up to $4 million of his 2017 base salary moved to 2016. Other sources, though, indicated that the Seahawks are thought to be keeping to their stance of not renegotiating a contract that has more than a year remaining – Chancellor’s has three.

Richard said he would be surprised if Chancellor were to miss most of the season and added he is confident the holdout is not harming his relationships with teammates and coaches.

“He has taken a stand where he’s taken it, and there is ultimate support on both sides,” Richard said.

“The closeness, the real relationships, who we are, who he is, that will not change.”