A Crash Course In Winning Erickson’s Revised Practice Format Designed To Give Players A Sense Of Urgency In Seattle

Analogies of sports to war grew tedious long ago.

One being trivial and the other vital.

But some members of the new Seattle Seahawks staff have borrowed a phrase from the military that defines the value of preparation: The more you sweat in peace, the less you bleed in war.

More than anything else, compared to their predecessors, the new staff appears willing to sweat the small stuff - pay close attention to details.

Whether that will stanch several years of losses will be seen in the months to come.

“Is that intense or what?” asked veteran safety Eugene Robinson between two-a-day practice sessions.

The answer: yes, it’s intense. And it’s also fast-paced and efficient.

“There’s a real sense of urgency that is promoted by the coaching staff,” Robinson said. “It’s mostly a college staff, and that lends itself to high-pace, high-speed, get-ready-and-do-it kind of practices.”

As he explained it, Robinson clapped quickly, like a metronome dictating a rapid rhythm.

“It not only keeps enthusiasm high, but there’s no complacency, either,” Robinson said. “There’s none of this, oh yeah, I’d have gotten that ball if I really had to - that doesn’t fly these days.”

What new head coach Dennis Erickson is stressing early in training camp is that the staff implant expectations.

“What we’re trying to establish now is a level we’re comfortable with as coaches for practice every day,” Erickson said. “If you don’t practice with that level of intensity, then it’s not enough. We won’t be satisfied with anything less than that.”

Changes in the approach to practice are obvious.

On the first day of full-contact workouts, Erickson had a 40-second play clock set up at the end of the field. Mirroring game situations, plays were sent in to quarterbacks via the helmet-communication system - with the clock running.

Remember how many times the Seahawks failed to get a play called in time last year and had to call timeout or absorb a 5-yard penalty?

Don’t expect that this year.

“The clock is obviously very important and you have to work on it from the start,” Erickson said.

More contact. Several team sessions at each practice are conducted at very close to full-contact.

Running backs darting through holes generally end up getting clobbered by linebackers. Under Tom Flores, most team sessions resembled flag football.

Sunday, even Pro Bowl running back Chris Warren got tagged, getting nailed at the sideline by Robinson.

“The theory? Hey, this is a contact sport - get used to it.

“They have to learn how to practice and understand we want them to practice on their feet,” Erickson said, referring to a ban on blocks below the waist.

More simulations of game situations.

In the first three days, the Seahawks have worked on short-yardage, 2-minute offense, third-and-longs and plays coming out of their own end zone.

“What we’re trying to do, in our last 15 minutes of every practice, we will have a situation,” Erickson said. “Football is all about situations, so we’re going to take 30 minutes a day and put ourselves in different situations to learn how to deal with them.”

Efficiency.

There isn’t much standing around.

For instance, during skeleton, 5-on-5 pass drills, the quarterback picks a receiver and throws the ball to him. In most cases, the other guys would normally just stroll back to the huddle.

Now, interns or assistants are lined up with footballs, and fire them at the receivers who were not thrown to during the play.

It gives every receiver another couple dozen catches every practice, and also helps keep everybody alert - every play.

A small thing. But perhaps something that makes a difference.

Preparation.

Despite it still being early in training camp, very few obvious broken plays have occurred. The players seem to know where they’re supposed to be.

“What really helped us there was having the three minicamps,” said offensive coordinator Bob Bratkowski. “That helped us all get way ahead of the game with everybody coming in knowing what they had to do.”

A little more of a collegiate attitude.

No, these aren’t the Miami Hurricanes, but they’re not quite as casual on the practice field as they’ve been in previous seasons, either.

Even bounteous defensive linemen are sprinting to and from drills. And at the end of practice, the players and staff huddle in the middle of the field, put their hands together and shout “Hawks.”

Does that sort of thing contribute to a winning team? Who knows?

At least it’s different from the approach of recent years - and everyone can remember how those seasons turned out.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo