CHENEY – The 2006 Seattle Seahawks will be unofficially unveiled this afternoon, but by the looks of Friday’s morning practice, they’re not ready for public display.
Less than 28 hours before the team will hold its annual intrasquad scrimmage at Eastern Washington University’s Woodward Field, coach Mike Holmgren kicked all of his players off the practice field following a lackluster performance. He called them together 30 minutes early, gave a 10-minute lecture, and then instructed them to go straight to the locker room without talking to the media.
“It was a big warning,” tight end Itula Mili said as players began emerging from the cafeteria about an hour later. “For the new guys who don’t know, you’d better catch on real fast. I’ve been through a few (Holmgren tirades) in the past, and so I kind of know what the message is.”
While Holmgren had a day off from the media on Friday, his message seemed pretty clear. He continually badgered the players to pick up the intensity all morning, only to get more and more frustrated when the practice continued to drag.
“I’m a pretty quiet person, but even I thought it was a little bit too quiet,” Mili said. “There wasn’t very much life out there.”
Dropped passes, missed assignments and an overall lack of crispness had Holmgren fuming from the early stages of the practice. After offensive lineman Floyd Womack false-started in a team portion of practice, Holmgren immediately called the players together. Ten minutes later, he sent them on their way and lectured his assistant coaches.
“We know that we have a good team, but if you ever get comfortable, you won’t look as dominant,” running back Shaun Alexander said two hours later. “That’s the message that he sent. As a group, we were really just a little bit lackadaisical.
“Sometimes you can be right (in games). But if you’re not right and strong with it, someone who’s just strong can beat you – even if they’re wrong.”
Mili, a 10-year veteran, said the practice was pretty typical for the seventh day of camp.
“People are tired, especially mentally,” he said. “But these guys have to grind through it. This kind of stuff carries over into game situations, where you push yourself through it when you’re tired. Fourth quarter, you’re tired, and you have to find a way to grind through it.”
The tempo picked up for the afternoon practice, which concluded at the regular time.
Scrimmage today: The intrasquad scrimmage takes place at 2 p.m. and is open to the public.
Unlike many intrasquad scrimmages, which split into teams and keep an actual score, the Seahawks’ annual event is more like a glorified practice. A public address announcer will guide the crowd through the 90-minute session.
“The scrimmage is part of the practice,” Holmgren said earlier this week. “We’re going to have normal practice, seven-on-seven, and non-contact-type things prior to the actual scrimmage. Then we’re going to work on the red-zone situations; we’re going to work on our kicking game a little bit.”
Where’d the bling go? With some of the offseason personnel moves, the Seahawks lost several players with Super Bowl rings.
In fact, four of the six players from the 2005 team who had won Super Bowls are now gone: receiver Joe Jurevicius, safety John Howell, punter Tom Rouen and linebacker Jamie Sharper.
That leaves just Chartric Darby (with Tampa Bay in 2002) and Grant Wistrom (with St. Louis in 1999), along with former New England Patriot Tom Ashworth (2003 and 2004), who was signed last March.
“I’m proud of them,” Ashworth said of his multiple rings, “but I came here because I thought it would give me an opportunity to win another one.”
Ashworth, a backup lineman who started 30 games during his five seasons in New England, added that he doesn’t have any secret formula to take the Seahawks over the top.
“They know what it takes,” Ashworth said of the Seahawks. “They’re great character guys that work hard to be successful. The character is very similar (to that of recent Patriots teams).”
Quick slants: Wide receiver Tony Brown (hamstring) attended his first practices Friday. … Cornerback Reggie Austin injured his knee in Friday’s morning practice and was scheduled to undergo an MRI. … Cornerback Jimmy Williams (ankle) was sidelined and wore a boot on his foot. … Return man Josh Scobey returned after missing two days with the flu.
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