Seahawks Notebook: Earl Thomas leaves his mark on Gronkowski

By Nick Patterson

Herald Writer

RENTON — Earl Thomas provided the Seattle Seahawks’ statement of intent during their 31-24 victory over the New England Patriots on Sunday night.

Seattle’s free safety put a crushing hit on Patriots star tight end Rob Gronkowski late in the second quarter, a hit that temporarily knocked Gronkowski out of the game.

On first-and-10 from the Seattle 45, New England quarterback Tom Brady attempted to hit Gronkowski streaking down the field on a seam route. Seattle strong safety Kam Chancellor managed to get a hand on the pass to knock it away from Gronkowski, and simultaneously Thomas drilled Gronkowski, sending him to the turf.

Gronkowski immediately got up, but he was then escorted off the field to be evaluated, though he returned to action before the half was over. After the game Gronkowski told reporters that it was probably the hardest he’s ever been hit.

“He was a bullet,” Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said in describing Thomas’ hit. “He took everything he had to hit him as hard as he could and to make the play, because he doesn’t know Kam is going to make the play on that ball. It’s a bang-bang kind of a hit, so he went for trying to break the pass up, and that’s the right way to do it and the right place to hit. He did give away quite a bit, probably 50-60 pounds.

“That was as perfectly legal and safe as you can make it,” Carroll added. “That’s the way the game should be played right there. That was what we refer to as a strike-zone hit, you saw Earl hit and lead with his shoulder, protect both himself and Gronk from getting hit in the head. That is absolutely the way we teach it. That was as perfect a play on a seam route as you can play.”

On Monday the NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported that Gronkowski came away from Sunday’s game with what is believed to be a punctured lung, which could keep Gronkowski out for a week. There was no word whether it was caused by the hit from Thomas.

Going for the knockout

There were some raised eyebrows when the Seahawks, after scoring a touchdown with 4 minutes, 30 seconds remaining, decided to try a two-point conversion with a seven-point lead. Seattle’s attempt failed, leaving the score at 31-24 and meaning New England could tie it with a touchdown and a kicked extra point. However, Carroll defended the decision, saying it was about trying to win the game at that moment.

“If you just kick it the odds of winning go up 6 or 7 percent,” Carroll explained. “If you go for two it goes up another 6 or 7, so 12 or something percent better chance of winning. The thing I liked about it is I thought it was really an aggressive way to put the pressure on them, that if we could make it they would be in a different mode than if they had a one-score game. We were going to play to that and I just wanted to put the pressure on them if we could, unfortunately we didn’t get to do that. But I like it, I thought it was aggressive and gave us the best chance to win.”

Rawls ready to return

Carroll said that running back Thomas Rawls, who’s been out since Week 2 because of a cracked fibula, has a good chance of playing Sunday when the Seahawks host the Philadelphia Eagles. Rawls returned to practice last week, and although he didn’t play Sunday against New England, he will practice this week as if he were playing.

Two others are expected to return next week, too. Carroll said tackle Bradley Sowell (knee) and tight end Luke Willson (knee) both could have played against the Patriots, but the decision was made to hold them out one more week.

Carroll said defensive end Michael Bennett (knee) is unlikely to play this week, but could return the following week when Seattle travels to Tampa Bay. Linebacker Mike Morgan (sports hernia), who’s been on injured reserve since early October, has returned to practice and is expected to be activated off injured reserve in two weeks. The status of linebacker Kevin Pierre-Louis (hamstring), who left Sunday’s game, is unknown.

For more on the Seattle sports scene, check out Nick Patterson’s Seattle Sidelines blog at www.heraldnet.com/tag/seattle-sidelines, or follow him on Twitter at @NickHPatterson.