NFC Notes: Earl Thomas, Buccaneers, Cowboys

Earl Thomas

On Friday, Seahawks HC Pete Carroll announced that S Earl Thomas did not practice due to personal reasons and his status for Week 3 was questionable, which led to some online speculation that a trade could be in the works.

However, a team official tells Steve Wyche of NFL.com that Thomas had not been traded and reiterated Carroll’s statement that Thomas was dealing with a personal issue.

According to Wyche, two teammates wouldn’t say what happened on Friday, but expect him to suit for their game against the Cowboys.

• A source close to Thomas tells Calvin Watkins that he’s never missed a game for personal reasons and doesn’t expect him to do so now.

Buccaneers

Buccaneers HC Dirk Koetter said the team must be “reasonable” with first-round DT Vita Vea‘s return from his calf injury after missing seven weeks of practice.

“When you’ve been out for seven weeks — conditioning indoors is different than playing football outdoors, when you’ve got bodies around your legs and everything. There’s no lack of ‘want to’ or anything like that — we’ve gotta be reasonable with how much time we give him…we’ll see,” said Koetter, via Jenna Laine of ESPN.

• The Tampa Bay Buccaneers officially ruled out DT Beau Allen (foot), DT Vita Vea (calf), and CB Marcus Williams (hamstring) for Week 3’s game against the Steelers. 
• The Buccaneers also listed S Chris Conte (knee) and CB Brent Grimes (groin) as questionable.

Cowboys

• Cowboys VP Stephen Jones was asked if they’re currently engaged in any trade talks: “No we’re not. We’re not exchanging any calls or any information at this time.” (Jon Machota)