Raiders DT Solomon Thomas ahead of schedule in return from torn ACL

“I missed football,” Thomas said, via Adam Hill of the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “Last season, I had to spend the whole season on a couch. I had fun watching, but I missed the game. … So now just being able to come to practice and be in the locker room gives me energy.”

The former third-overall pick disappointed during his first three years with the 49ers, and his tenure with the organization ended with him sitting on IR. The defensive lineman tore his ACL in Week 2 of the 2020 campaign, ending his season (and tenure with San Francisco) prematurely.

It’s been nine months since the 25-year-old went under the knife, and Hill notes that Thomas had another procedure on his ankle in December. So, after signing a one-year deal with the Raiders in March, Thomas is anxious to start practicing.

“It’s been a long journey,” he said. “A lot of hard work. … It was a mental struggle for sure. Anytime I looked too far forward, I would get stressed, I would get frustrated. But I had a great treatment team, and when I could take it day by day and just put in the work, we got better and better every day and we’re ahead of the curve.”