A whole-hearted welcome back to Earl Thomas who has finally returned to the practice field today after having off-season shoulder surgery following his serious injury in the NFC Championship game against the Packers. Earl spoke with reporters earlier today and said one of the hardest things about coming back was just getting through the mental grind of dealing with an injury. He said he was questioning “if he even loved it [football] anymore.” If you take a look at his appearance during his press conference (above), you can tell that he looks like he’s been letting his looks slide a little bit. As opposed to his always polished, clean-cut look (below) you can tell that he really just doesn’t seem to be himself. I attribute this to that mental grind he was talking about. I also noticed that between the two pictures his face appears fuller now (not as thin) and he seems to have a more worried expression (more lines, his eyes are drooping a bit and so forth). I hope coming back to practice helps to shake off some of that negative gloom that seems to be lingering from the injury.

He seems to have let himself go a bit (mentally) and it shows. What do you think? Does Earl Thomas’s hair and beard show a lack of enthusiasm about getting back to practice?