Seattle exits Cheney with warning about keeping focus

It was all Julian Peterson could do to stop to talk, especially when the rest of the Seattle Seahawks were all but sprinting off the practice fields Thursday morning.

“I’m ready to go,” he said. “My mind is already there.”

The Hawks had a final light, one-hour practice and their prized free-agent acquisition didn’t want to get left behind as everyone headed off to Seattle after a month at Eastern Washington University.

Peterson, lured away from San Francisco to play outside linebacker, had no problems with life in Cheney, even as his former team trains in Santa Clara, Calif.

“There is no real difference,” he said. “When we were out there in (California), it’s just training camp. Pretty much you’re isolated from your normal everyday type of things. You’re in the dorm, just like a regular college student, and it’s pretty much just a chance to bond, for the chemistry of the team. That’s just the whole training camp thing.”

That provides plenty of time to learn a new playbook and get to know his new teammates better.

“You have no choice, especially when you’re out here for a whole month,” Peterson said. “I feel pretty good. I improved everyday. I’m more comfortable than I was a month ago. I had a good camp.”

Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren was much more patient after addressing the team but just as pleased with camp, which he said isn’t an annual given.

“I might have felt that way, but I don’t think I’d ever say that,” he said. “I have come away from camp concerned about injuries a little bit more. … You worry about that stuff but I can say I’m very optimistic.

“So much of it is attitude. We’ve had the best off-season work preparation we’ve ever had, the most participation. That was a good start, then our camp was good. We built a pretty good chemistry on the team and again, we were a pretty unselfish team last year and we have to have that again. Those are the things that drag you down a little bit the next year.”

Holmgren’s comments to the team were a repeat of his opening comments.

“When I opened camp I talked to them about teams that have been in the Super Bowl and then lost,” he said. “I started the camp with that and I said I’m going to end with it. I talked to them about why I felt that happened and why it shouldn’t happen to us.”

Holmgren wasn’t just referring to losing in the Super Bowl, as the Seahawks did 21-10 to Pittsburgh last February in Detroit. He was talking about how the previous five Super Bowl losers failed to make the playoffs the following season.

“Before the season starts you have to be a very focused team,” he said. “Your team just can’t forget what allowed you to get to the Super Bowl in the first place. And the other thing is injury. If you’re fortunate with injury and you can kind of keep things in focus, there’s no reason you shouldn’t have a good year again.”

The key is leadership, Holmgren said.

“I think we have really strong leadership,” he said. “Leadership is not something you switch on and off. It comes from you all the time, in meetings, in the dining hall, on the field, on the airplane. Leaders come in all shapes and sizes and we have good leaders on this team now. It’s a very, very healthy situation.”

Which wasn’t always the case, Holmgren said.

“It took us a while, you can’t force feed that,” he said. “A guy usually is a leader or he isn’t. I encouraged the young guys to emulate the guys you respect on this football team. We’re in a good place now that way. The guys that would drag the other guys down – because they thought being a real diligent worker was kind of uncool – they’re not here any more.”

The Seahawks play their third preseason game Saturday at San Diego. Holmgren said most starters would play the first half and start the second. The first official cut day is early next week.

The final preseason game is Thursday against Oakland at Qwest Field. The regular-season opener is Sept. 10 at Detroit.