Seahawks know replacing Earl Thomas is going to be hard

By Darin Gantt for NBC Sports.

The Seahawks aren’t used to being without safety Earl Thomas, so they’re trying to wrap their mind around it.

But they know for sure last night’s broken leg from a collision with teammate Kam Chancellor is going to hurt, them and him.

Thomas was tweeting out a contemplation of retirement before the game was even over, so traumatized was he by the friendly fire injury, and his teammates and coaches understand why.

“Kam’s made of steel,’’ Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said, via Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times. “So it’s going to hurt, and it sure did.”

The pain is only beginning for them and that’s no offense to replacement Steven Terrell, who just isn’t Thomas (such that many are).

After the game, Carroll would say only that Thomas had a broken leg, and that his timetable was for such an injury was “always six weeks anyway.”

Chancellor said he thought his teammates’ string of tweets were also born out of uncertainty rather than an actual fear his career might be over.

“When you get injured, it becomes very emotional,” Chancellor said. “Sometimes you say things you might not mean; sometimes you say things you might mean. It’s one of those things you just have to let him sit back and breathe, let him sit back and go through his process. People are going to take it how they’re going to take it. At the end of the day he’s going to make the decision he wants to make, but right now it’s an emotional battle at this moment.”

Thomas had only missed one game previously, last week’s with a hamstring injury. He didn’t know what to do with himself, so he took his family to Portland to watch NBA games and watch the Seahawks game in a bar. So now, he’s faced with a much longer absence.

And the Seahawks have to figure out how to replace one of their best players. The Panthers attacked Terrell immediately, throwing a 55-yard touchdown to Ted GinnJr. over the top of him. More teams are going to try to do the same, now that a weakness has been exposed.