The notion that some Seahawks teammates reportedly think quarterback Russell Wilson isn’t “black enough” rubbed Seattle’s All-Pro safety Earl Thomas the wrong way after the team’s 13-9 win over the Carolina Panthers on Sunday.

“It’s an insult to our race,” Thomas told Peter King of The MMQB. “And Russell is the ultimate competitor. He always works as hard as anyone, and he handles himself with poise. He represents our team and our organization very well. I don’t think there’s any problem with him in our locker room at all.”

Thomas told King that the drama surrounding reported rifts among the team is an opportunity for the defending Super Bowl champs to overcome adversity — an opportunity made easier by a win on Sunday that steered the club away from a three-game losing streak.

“It’s time for the leaders in our locker room to step up,” Thomas said. “I look at it as a challenge. Today was a good step for our team. The close games help us grow. The pressure in games like this is good for us down the road.”

The criticism of Wilson came to light last Wednesday in a column by Bleacher Report’s Mike Freeman, who reported that wide receiver Percy Harvin had been traded because of his role as “an accelerant in a locker room that was quickly dividing between Wilson and anti-Wilson.” Freeman talked to several Seahawks who reportedly are uncomfortable with Wilson’s cozy relationship with management and his perceived failure to take some blame for mistakes on the field.

But Freeman also went further, bringing race into the mix.

“There is also an element of race that needs to be discussed,” Freeman wrote, citing interviews with several Seattle players. “My feeling on this … is that some of the black players think Wilson isn’t black enough. … This is an issue that extends outside of football, into African-American society — although it’s gotten better recently. Well-spoken blacks are seen by some as not completely black. Some of this is at play.”

The reported locker room divide on the team’s franchise quarterback isn’t the only intrigue surrounding the Seahawks in their quest to repeat. Three separate reports on Sunday suggested a frosty relationship between running back Marshawn Lynch and head coach Pete Carroll, citing sources who said Lynch almost certainly won’t be with the team after the 2014 season.

Visit seattlepi.com for more Seattle Seahawks news. Contact sports reporter Stephen Cohen at stephencohen@seattlepi.com or @scohenPI.