KIRKLAND – What Mike Holmgren said Wednesday afternoon was like talking about Tiger Woods without his driver.
Andy Roddick without his serve.
Randy Johnson without his fastball.
Holmgren, the Seattle Seahawks’ head coach, was asked about the struggles of cornerback Shawn Springs this season. What Holmgren said was that perhaps Springs could be dealing with damaged pride.
“At that position more than any other on the football team, except the quarterback, the confidence thing factors in so much,” Holmgren said during his Wednesday afternoon press conference. “I don’t know if that’s what happened. But he’s too good a player (to be struggling).”
A lack of confidence? Shawn Springs? The same Shawn Springs who told a local reporter two weeks ago that “a lot of people in Seattle are going to be disappointed” if he wasn’t named the most beautiful athlete in the city?
Needless to say, confidence is not a problem for Springs. It has always been the most important component of his game – kind of like Roddick’s serve or Johnson’s fastball.
“That’s not a factor with me at all – ever,” Springs said Wednesday.
Perhaps not. But something has definitely been affecting Springs this season.
His play, which has been very un-Springs-like, would suggest that something is bothering him.
“The first three or four games, I was still hurt a little bit,” said Springs, who cracked a bone in his shoulder during the preseason and didn’t return until Oct. 12. “But other than that …
“You know how you have one of those things, like a batter? You play real hard, sometimes you play really well, and (stuff) still happens.”
The cornerback’s bumper-sticker logic might be explanation enough in past seasons. But this year, his play has stuck out like a sore hamstring amid a secondary that also has steady cornerbacks Ken Lucas and Marcus Trufant. Both have outplayed Springs this season, even though the seven-year veteran entered training camp with Pro Bowl aspirations.
And the Seahawks are in a playoff race, so every mistake is amplified.
“It’s very important for us down the stretch here that he plays his game, he plays very well,” Holmgren said. “Not only Shawn but Lucas and (safety Ken) Hamlin, all our secondary people. We’ve got to crank it up a notch back there.”
Holmgren added that he won’t make any changes at the cornerback position, meaning Springs and Trufant are likely to start again Sunday against the Cleveland Browns.
Springs hasn’t been beaten often this season, but he’s been the victim of quality over quantity. Many of the receptions he has allowed have been at crucial times.
He gave up a 14-yard touchdown to Washington’s Rod Gardner in the final seconds before halftime of a Nov. 9 loss. He was in coverage again when Laveranues Coles caught a 63-yard pass on the second play of the third quarter.
One week later, Springs gave up another touchdown in the closing minute of the first half. Detroit’s Az Hakim out-jumped Springs for a 15-yard score on that one.
Last week, Springs got beat on two key receptions in a loss to the Baltimore Ravens. The first one came on Travis Taylor’s acrobatic one-handed catch, which was made possible when Springs fell down in coverage. Springs was later victimized on one of Marcus Robinson’s four touchdown receptions.
“It’s just like anybody,” Springs said with a shrug Wednesday. “I’ve made some good plays, and I’ve made some bad plays.”
Although his performance this season would appear to hurt his reputation, Springs’s peers aren’t exactly eager to face him.
“He’s one of the best corners in the league,” Baltimore’s Robinson said after Sunday’s 44-41 win over the Seahawks. “We get paid just like he gets paid. And we came out on the better end today.”
Robinson’s teammate, wideout Frank Sanders, pointed toward an ongoing battle with hamstring and shoulder injuries as to Springs’s recent play.
“Shawn is a great player still,” Sanders said. “Obviously he had a couple of nicks in his body, and I don’t know if he’s compensating for it or not. But honestly I think Shawn Springs is still a great player in this league.”
Despite his struggles, Springs thinks so too. No matter how many times opponents get the best of him, confidence won’t be a problem for the self-assured corner from Ohio State.
“Good corners, they forget about the big play and then go on and make the big play the next time,” said Trufant, Springs’s rookie teammate. “He’s got a couple interceptions, so I think he’s still playing well. He’s going to keep rolling on, and we’re going to get it done.”
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