Earl Thomas is adjusting to his first NFL defense not coached by Pete Carroll.
The new Baltimore Ravens safety said Thursday at the final day of minicamp that he is getting used to playing in a more complex system.
"It's football still at the end of the day. Right now, it's just the terminology and the defense," he said. "This defense is very complex compared to what we were doing in Seattle. We were just running Cover-3 all the time but now we're making calls on the fly, that's the biggest adjustment for me but just being around these guys, that's bringing it all in. They're helping me; that's what brothers do."
There is no fear that Thomas will soon catch up to his teammates and become the latest star safety in Baltimore to shut down the middle of the field.
It will be interesting to see how much the Ravens coaching staff moves Thomas around after he spent the overwhelming majority of his time in Seattle smack dab in the middle of the field, between 10 and 20 yards off the line of scrimmage, daring quarterbacks to test him. His incomparable range suggests DC Don Martindale could deploy the safety in countless number of ways to lasting success.
As the Ravens break until training camp, Thomas will continue to study the new playbook and enjoy his first time in a new jersey.
"The culture," Thomas responded when asked what stood out about his new team thus far. "What stood out to me was just a bunch of young guys that are hungry. It's good to be around that. I fit right in with the group, especially in the DB room.
"The culture is the dog mentality. That's my type of players."
