Early in the second quarter of his team's 40-7 win over the Carolina Panthers, star Seattle Seahawks safety Earl Thomas did what he does best.

He read the quarterback's eyes and broke on a pass over the middle of the field, attempting the snatch it out of the sky. Thomas got there just in time, arriving to meet the ball at its highest point; but he collided with teammate Kam Chancellor. Thomas ended up fracturing his tibia on the play. The injury was apparently so serious that Thomas tweeted that he is considering retiring from football altogether.

Of course, that could have been just a heat-of-the-moment response; and it's possible we'll see Thomas back out there with the rest of the Legion of Boom by the start of next season. Lending credence to that theory is Thomas' response to the play just after it happened, while he was still on the ground.

ESPN.com's Sheil Kapadia asked Richard Sherman after the game what Thomas said to Sherman while he was laying on the ground after the play. Here's what Sherman said:

"He said, 'That was a hell of a break by me,' " Sherman said. "And it was. It was a perfect break. He said, 'I read that.' That's Earl being Earl. He wasn't talking about the injury at all. He said he read that play. He was waiting on that. And he made a play."

That's just about as Earl Thomas a response as it gets. I can confirm that, immediately after the play, that's what the conversation in the CBSSports.com NFL Slack room was about as well. It was amazing in the moment. And it's amazing that Thomas, while lying on the ground with an injury he moments later thought might be serious enough to end his career, only cared about having made the play he is on the field to make.