Hawks revamp camp
KIRKLAND, Wash. – At first glance, Seattle Seahawks minicamps appeared to be what the NFL should be during May and June. The players wore no pads, just helmets and spikes. The mornings were as cool and breezy as the practices seemed, with still three months until the games get real.
But Mike Holmgren ensured that the minicamp that ended Thursday was not just another ho-hum event for semi-interested veterans.
For the first time since he became the Seahawks’ coach in 1999, Holmgren installed a volume of new formations and plays on offense, something he normally reserves for the full-pads, two-a-day practices of training camp.
Holmgren had quarterback Matt Hasselbeck calling plays he’d never run. He had Deion Branch in a new, strong-side receiver role, the one Darrell Jackson had until getting traded to San Francisco. He had offensive linemen such as Ray Willis trading places and trying new positions.
Essentially, he brought a large part of training camp to minicamp. Holmgren said this is perhaps the fifth time in his 16 years as an NFL head coach that he has introduced so many new ideas during minicamps.
“I think it is healthy to stimulate the veterans that we have and get them thinking a little bit, so it is not just business as usual,” Holmgren said. “If it is the same ol’ same ol’, sometimes they are just going through the motions. And I didn’t want them to do that.
“If I find myself kind of standing at practice and going, ‘Oh boy, if I have to look at that play again I might faint,’ then I know it is time to throw in some new stuff, for sure.”
Then there’s this: Fainting might have been better for Holmgren than having to watch some of his maddeningly inconsistent offense last season.
After having the NFL’s most prolific scoring unit during the 2005 season – at 28.2 points per game en route to the Super Bowl – Seattle was 14th in scoring last season with 20.9 points per game. With Pro Bowl guard Steve Hutchinson gone to free agency and Shaun Alexander missing six games with a broken foot, the rushing offense went from 154 yards per game, third in the league, to 120 yards, which was 14th.
Hasselbeck missed four games with a sprained knee and then played through two broken fingers before finishing the regular season with 15 interceptions, tying a career high.
Even though the Seahawks went 9-7 and won the NFC West for the third consecutive season, the nagging feeling remains that had the offense performed closer to expectations, Seattle would have at least advanced to another NFC championship game – if not a second consecutive Super Bowl.
“I thought adding some things to our repertoire is healthy,” Holmgren said.
There are lots of new faces, as well as new plays.
“It is not just the offensive line, it is a lot of new people,” Hasselbeck said. “I think back to last week, there were just three of us that were in that huddle from the Super Bowl team. It was myself, Shaun and Walt (Jones, the Pro Bowl tackle). Everybody else was new. That is the nature of change in the NFL.”
Even with all that was new at the minicamp, Alexander was absent for the final three days of the voluntary camp. Jones also chose not to be here this week. Willis, Seattle’s fourth-round draft choice in 2005 whom the Seahawks want competing for a starting job at right tackle or guard this summer, was playing for Jones at left tackle while wearing a bulky wrap over his broken left hand.
While the work is optional, Hasselbeck saw value in having all healthy veterans and rookies practicing throughout minicamp. After all, he ferociously worked in the weight room and on conditioning after surgery in January on his non-throwing shoulder just so he could be here.
“Yes it is voluntary, but all you are doing by not showing up is putting more stress on your teammates, putting more stress on your buddies. You are hurting your buddy,” Hasselbeck said, not directly addressing Alexander’s and Jones’ absences.
“I know there are good reasons for people not being here sometimes, but that is why I think it is so important to be here.”