RENTON — With Lake Washington serving as a backdrop, and a beautiful blue sky overhead, the Seattle Seahawks broke in their new practice facility Wednesday morning in typical fashion.
That is, with a few spirited words from head coach Mike Holmgren.
The 60-year-old coach stopped practice twice to lecture his players about the importance of doing things the right way.
“They’re tired of hitting each other,” Holmgren told reporters afterward. “When they have a drill like that at practice, it’s my job to wake them up a little bit.”
Other than Holmgren’s occasional outbursts, the atmosphere was everything the Seahawks could have hoped. The new facility features three 100-yard fields of natural grass, as well as an indoor field. The practice surfaces are bordered by a three-story facility and the Lake Washington shoreline.
“The space and the things they have incorporated in this facility are unbelievable,” said wide receiver Nate Burleson, who grew up in Renton and attended Seattle’s O’Dea High School. “I feel honored just to be here and to walk around and to be one of the first players to set foot on this ground. I know I’m not going to be the last, but to be one of the first is special.”
The facility includes 19 acres of land, as well as a 6,700-square-foot locker room that’s five times as big as the one in Kirkland.
“It’s a great feeling to walk through the locker room,” cornerback Marcus Trufant said. “I couldn’t even walk through the whole thing (before practice) because my legs got tired. I had to save my legs for practice.”
Even Holmgren could appreciate the surroundings.
“It’s wonderful,” he said. “And the fields are great. It’s all good.
“I hope the players know that, as nice as it is, that’s not going to win many games. We have the best facility in football, and I want them to enjoy it; it’s very player-friendly. But we can’t get too caught up in that. We still have a lot of hard work to do.”
The Seahawks returned to their Kirkland facility Wednesday afternoon. The team doesn’t plan to permenantly move south until later this month.
Long morning: Because the Seahawks won’t have time for a walk-through today, they did double duty Wednesday morning.
The two-hour session marked one of the longest practices of the current camp. The team held a regular practice for 90 minutes, then had a walk-through in preparation of Friday’s preseason opener at Minnesota.
“We had a lot of things we had to do,” Holmgren said of the reason for extending the practice. “… They’ve got all day (Thursday) to rest, and then most of Friday.”
Wednesday’s afternoon practice was a short one, and the Seahawks will treat today as a travel day. The team is scheduled to fly out of Seattle this morning and arrive in Minnesota around mid-day.
Holmgren did not announce what kind of playing time his starters might see in Friday’s game. He typically plays his starters into the second quarter, at which time the backups will get a chance to push for a roster spot.
Ex-Husky signed: Former University of Washington cornerback Derrick Johnson made his debut with the Seahawks on Wednesday morning, but his appearance was brief.
Johnson, 26, hurt his left foot and finished the practice with an ice wrap. He was not on the field for the afternoon session.
Johnson has played for San Francisco, Miami, Atlanta and Houston since coming into the league in 2005 but had not been signed when teams went to training camp.
The Seahawks had a roster spot available after placing linebacker Wesly Mallard (knee) on injured reserve Wednesday morning.
Healing up: Holmgren said that several veterans are expected back from injury next week, including defensive end Patrick Kerney.
Kerney, who led the NFC with 14½ sacks last season, has been hobbled by a sore calf. He has been wearing a boot to protect his lower leg this week.
Holmgren added that cornerback Jordan Babineaux and offensive lineman Floyd Womack are also expected back from knee injuries. Womack was walking without crutches Wednesday afternoon.
Earlier this week, Holmgren said that center Chris Spencer (back) is also supposed to start practicing after the Minnesota game. Punter Ryan Plackemeier did some kicking Wednesday morning but isn’t expected back on a full-time basis until next week.
Returning to the field were wide receiver Michael Bumpus and tight end Jeb Putzier, both of whom had been out with sore hamstrings.
Hand jive: While teammates are going through special teams drills, Seattle’s quarterbacks have been working on their sign language. The Seahawks are developing an entire new set of hand signals for the upcoming season.
“We’ve got coaches on other teams and players who went to other teams, so we’ve been inventing new signals for everything we do,” quarterback Matt Hasselbeck said.
One team that is particularly tuned in to the old set of signals is the Washington Redskins, who will be at Qwest Field on Nov. 23. Washington’s head coach is former Seahawks quarterbacks coach Jim Zorn, while running backs coach Stump Mitchell held the same position with Seattle until this year.
Asked how the new signals are coming along, Hasselbeck said: “We have some work to do.”
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