KIRKLAND – The ever-shuffling spotlight of a football team can shift from quarterback to cornerback as quickly as one can say: “Matt Hasselbeck.”
It can bounce in on a veteran defensive end who’s recently signed a club-record $14 million signing bonus or turn its focus to a rookie middle linebacker who’s supposed to be too small to play in the NFL.
But rarely does the light shine on the interior of an offensive line, where the bloody knuckles and sweaty girth are often too much for the untrained eye to take.
That’s not the case with Chris Spencer, whose short NFL career has been uncharacteristic because of the undivided attention it has received as of late.
Spencer came into the NFL under the microscope, taken with the 26th overall selection in the 2005 draft to make him only the sixth interior lineman to be taken in the first round since 2000. Drafted as a center, he got forced into action at left guard this year due to defection (Steve Hutchinson, to Minnesota as a free agent) and injury (Floyd Womack, out until sometime next month with damage to his left knee).
Although he’s a guard for now, Spencer has been smack dab at the center of attention.
“That takes some time,” coach Mike Holmgren said when asked about Spencer’s development this week.
“Every day is a learning experience,” offensive line coach Bill Laveroni added when asked the same question.
“He’s going to get better,” Womack said in response to a question about the man who’s filling his starting role.
Despite playing in a part of the offense that rarely gets noticed, Spencer continues to draw attention to himself.
He got beat several times in the loss to the Chicago Bears three weeks ago, allowing Bears defensive tackle Tommie Harris to sack Hasselbeck twice and hit the quarterback on two other occasions, and then Spencer got flagged for two false starts in last Sunday’s win over the St. Louis Rams.
This week, Spencer will be scrutinized again because his name is not Steve Hutchinson. The former Seahawk and three-time Pro Bowler will be back in town as a member of the Minnesota Vikings, and so any mistake Spencer makes will probably be illuminated by the yearning of what could have been.
“A lot of people are expecting him to go out there and defeat the world,” Womack said. “But he has to take it one game at a time, and I think he’s doing a good job at it.”
Spencer knows he hasn’t played his best football yet, but he refuses to let himself get frustrated at the results.
“It’s not going to happen overnight,” he said. “If you get frustrated, then everything goes to hell in a hand basket. So you have to be patient.”
This Sunday’s game doesn’t set up for an easy assignment. Minnesota defensive tackle Kevin Williams, who lines up at both interior positions, has already gone to one Pro Bowl during his first two NFL seasons, and he’s regarded as the Vikings’ best defensive player.
Anyone who saw how effective Chicago’s Harris was against Spencer should keep a special eye on the matchup with Williams.
“He’s kind of similar to Harris, but he’s bigger,” Spencer said, noting that the 6-foot-5, 311-pound Williams has two inches and 16 pounds on Harris. “They’re both quick off the ball and have good hands. You’ve got to be ready.”
Because he’s the only new starter from the 2005 offensive line that was widely considered to be the NFL’s best, Spencer often gets blamed by fans and media for almost anything that goes wrong up front. But that isn’t quite fair; there have been several breakdowns at other positions, and Spencer has quietly improved each week.
“As a pass protector, he’s gotten better,” Laveroni said. “He’s really trying to get better, but it’s hard.
“He’s a tremendous athlete, and that helps him. He’s understanding where he has to be as a left guard in our offense. I think he’s going to be an even better run blocker as he becomes more and more comfortable at his position.”
Spencer admits that part of the difficulty comes from transitioning from center to guard. As examples, he talked about the different stance required and said that the false starts in last Sunday’s game were partly a result of having to wait for someone else to snap the ball.
“It was one of those things where I’m used to being at center and I anticipate the snap count,” he said. “I’ve got to remember that I can’t move until the ball is snapped. It’s a little different. It’s still a work in progress.”
One person who understands Spencer’s plight as much as anyone else is the man he replaced. Womack has changed positions several times since entering the league in 2001, and he said that confidence is the most important factor.
“The toughest thing is that you’re your own critic,” Womack said. “You’ll be hard on yourself. People will say what they want to say, but if you’re not satisfied with your job, then it doesn’t matter.”
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