Veteran safety Earl Thomas suffered a season-ending fractured leg during Sunday's 20-17 win over the Arizona Cardinals, and as he was being carted off the field, he gave the Seahawks sideline the middle finger, a response to the team never giving him the contract extension or trade he requested this offseason.
On Monday, head coach Pete Carroll preached empathy when discussing the incident.
"Give him a little slack," Carroll said, per Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times. "This is a very, very difficult moment that most people would never understand what this is all about.