That's what West Virginia's senior linebacker would like to know.

"Enough about the neck,'' Thomas said this week. "I'll be fine.''

Indeed, according to the experts, Thomas will be fine. He's undergone every test known to medical science and passed with flying colors.

"There's no nerve damage or anything like that. I had a clean MRI,'' Thomas said. "I'm fine.''

And so come Saturday when West Virginia opens its season against Coastal Carolina at Mountaineer Field, Thomas will be right where he has been 26 straight times over the past two seasons - in the starting defensive lineup.

Still, it has been what seems like forever since Thomas went more than two or three days without sitting out a practice.

Beginning in the spring, Thomas was sidelined with mysterious neck pain. He was checked out, pronounced fit and returned to practice. But a few days later, there he was again in a green jersey, watching from the sidelines. It was that way all spring.

The symptoms continued through the summer and into fall camp. Thomas played sparingly in a couple of scrimmages and sat out another. He spent more time in that familiar green (injured) practice jersey than he spent out of it.

Here's the thing, though, that Thomas wants everyone to understand. The medical reports are fine. He's fine. He just has some pain.

Take this week, when he was among the last of West Virginia's players to emerge from the training room following practice.

"It's just bumps and bruises, man. I'm getting old, you know what I mean?'' Thomas said. "I need a little more treatment than these young pups.''

But what about all those days spent watching practice instead of participating?

"It was just my coaches taking care of me,'' Thomas said. "There's nothing wrong with that. They want the best for me and I understand that. Of course I want to be out there just like everybody else, but they pulled me off [the field] whenever I said something was bothering me and that's fine.''

Despite the clean bills of health he keeps getting from doctors, it is only natural to wonder when the pain persists. Thomas admits that sometimes he wonders and even worries about it.

 "A bit. A bit,'' Thomas said. "But there's nothing to worry about, not when I'm able to get out there and practice and do things. I'm coming along fine.

"Everyone has to deal with pain. It's nothing that I can't deal with.''

The bottom line for Thomas is that the only symptom of whatever ails him is the pain. He is not restricted in his movement and he has no trouble blowing up ball carriers when he steps into a gap. He will wear a neck roll to protect himself.

And it's not as if all those times he sat out practices he would have done the same had it been a game day. It never rose to that level.

It's merely an annoyance.

"Sure, it's a little bit annoying. But like I said, every player has something that annoys him,'' Thomas said. "But I'll be fine. It's nothing that will stop me from being on the field.''

Reach Dave Hickman at 304-348-1734 or dphickm...@aol.com.