Pete Carroll confirms Earl Thomas will miss rest of season; Seahawks reportedly sign FB Marcel Reece

RENTON – Seahawks free safety Earl Thomas will miss the remainder of the season with a broken leg.

Coach Pete Carroll confirmed the team’s worst fears on Monday, a day after Thomas went down in Seattle’s win over Carolina. Carroll had said after the game that he didn’t know how severe Thomas’ fracture was or if there was any chance that he could come back this season. That answer came Monday.

“No. There’ will be none,” Carroll said. “No shot. It’s going to take longer than that.”

Carroll added: “He’s got a serious recovery that he’s going to have to go through. It’s going to take a while.”

Carroll declined to say how long that will be. He specified that the fracture is in Thomas’ tibia and said he doesn’t know if surgery will be necessary.

Thomas told ESPN’s Ed Werder that he will not have surgery. He also didn’t back off of what he tweeted Sunday night about retirement being a possibility.

Seahawk Earl Thomas to me just now: “I’m taking it one day at a time. I still feel the same way I felt last night.” Future remains uncertain

— Ed Werder (@Edwerderespn) December 6, 2016

“You have to remember my team is still fighting I don’t want to become a distraction,” said Earl Thomas, who doesn’t plan to have surgery

— Ed Werder (@Edwerderespn) December 6, 2016

During his conversation with “Brock and Salk” earlier in the day, Carroll chuckled at the mention of Thomas’ tweet and said Thomas was joking on the trainers table minutes after he was injured.

Asked Monday afternoon how Thomas is doing, Carroll said: “He seems to be doing OK. He’s handling it. He’s responding and he’s doing alright. Just trying to deal with it right now.”

Carroll confirmed that Steven Terrell will continue to play free safety in Thomas’ absence. He started the week earlier in Tampa Bay while Thomas was out with a hamstring injury and finished Sunday night’s game once Thomas went down in the second quarter.

Thomas was injured when he collided with strong safety Kam Chancellor while breaking on a deep pass over the middle. Replays showed Chancellor’s right knee hitting Thomas left shin. Carroll said Chancellor “got banged a little bit” on that play, but he remained in the game.

Fullback Will Tukuafu suffered a concussion Sunday night and didn’t return. With Tukuafu unavailable while going through the concussion protocol, the Seahawks have signed Macel Reece, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. Reece, 31, was a wide receiver at Washington and moved to fullback when he entered the NFL with Oakland in 2008. He made three Pro Bowls with the Raiders and was released in September, right as he was about to return from a four-game suspension for a violation of the league’s policy on performance-enhancing substances.

Carroll said tight end Luke Willson will be back this week after missing Sunday night’s game with a knee injury.

As for rookie running back C.J. Prosise, Carroll indicated that the earliest he could return is the postseason, as was reported earlier. The Seahawks have been keeping him on their 53-man roster since he suffered a broken shoulder blade two weeks ago against Philadelphia.

“We’re going kind of in two-week increments right now. We’re seeing how he’s progressing, so it’ll be another two weeks from today we’ll make another evaluation to see how he’s coming along,” Carroll said. “That’s to gauge whether or not he’ll be able to make it back if we’re fortunate enough to be in the playoffs.”