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Brady HendersonESPN
SEATTLE – Earl Thomas said he expects to be fined by the Seahawks after sitting out a pair of practices last week, which he said was an attempt to protect himself.
Thomas had a pair of interceptions in the Seahawks’ 24-13 win over the Dallas Cowboys Sunday, capping a bizarre week for the team and its All-Pro free safety. He told reporters afterward that his absences in practice were related to his continued discontent over his contract situation.
“I need to make sure my body is 100,” he said. “I’m invested in myself. If they was invested in me, I would be out there practicing. But if I feel like anything – I don’t give a damn if it’s small, I’ve got a headache – I’m not practicing. But I don’t want that to be taken the wrong way. I know I’m going to get fined. But that’s just where I’m at with that.”
ESPN’s Chris Mortensen reported Sunday morning that the team is considering a hefty fine against Thomas for conduct detriment to the team after he sat out Wednesday and Friday. The team listed his absences as not injury-related and coach Pete Carroll told reporters that it was a personal matter without elaborating.
“I probably will,” Thomas said when asked if he expects a fine. “Definitely. They definitely going to tax me.”
Asked if he’s been told he’ll be fined, Thomas said, “I’m sure I’ll have a slip in my locker.”
Thomas, 29, held out all during training camp, only reporting to the team on Sept. 5, four days before the season opener. He had been seeking a new contract as he enters the final year of a four-year, $40 million extension he signed in 2014. Over the summer, he posted a note on social media asking the team to either sign him to an extension or trade him to another team.
When he returned, he said on Instagram that the “disrespect has been well noted and will not be forgotten.”
Carroll did not have much to say about the Thomas situation in his postgame press conference.
“I haven’t even talked to him about it, other than we made it through and we’ll talk next week,” Carroll said. “There’s nothing to even tell you about it right now. I’ll let you know next week.”
Carroll said he had not given any consideration to not starting Thomas because of the missed practices.
Asked whether he expects this will become Thomas’ routine, Carroll said: “Let me tell you what I do know: What I do know is he gave everything he had today. He was in every step of the way, every aspect of the game. The communications, the focus and the adjustments, and we were going.
“I was with him on some of those things on the sideline. He was in everything. He played his tail off and he had a blast playing, and he had a blast in the locker room. I’ll talk to him next week about whatever.”
All of this comes in the wake of Seattle’s win over the same team that has been most connected to Dallas in a possible trade for Thomas. ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that a trade to the Cowboys is a “super long-shot,” according to one league source.
Thomas was asked if he thought this week could be his last with Seattle, the team that drafted him 14th overall in 2010.
“Yeah, of course. I heard chatter,” he said. “People was coming up to me and saying a trade might happen. Even pregame, a couple of Cowboys coaches – I don’t know if they were trying to play psychological games – but they was like, ‘You ready for the trade tomorrow?’ But at the end of the day, I had a great time with the guys that I’ve been practicing with – well, I haven’t been practicing, but the guys I have been around. It was just fun out there.”
Thomas said he wasn’t sure if the Dallas coaches were joking or serious and that his pregame conversation with head coach Jason Garrett was “just small talk, like, ‘what’s up.’ That was it.”
On the possibility of this being his last game in Seattle, Thomas said, “I don’t know if it was, man. I had a damn good time. I’ll go out like that if I have to.”