Originally published Thursday, November 22, 2007 at 12:00 AM
Hawks Notebook | Practice change a wake-up call
Not long ago, in an effort to shake things up to get his team's running game going, coach Mike Holmgren tried some other players at offensive-line...
Seattle Times staff reporter
KIRKLAND — Not long ago, in an effort to shake things up to get his team's running game going, coach Mike Holmgren tried some other players at offensive-line positions in practice.
Left guard Rob Sims missed some first-team snaps. So did right tackle Sean Locklear. Since then, the Seahawks have found some success running the ball, and what might have looked like a lineup change now looks like a successful wake-up call.
"Better, but that's a work in progress," Holmgren said when asked this week about the line's play. "You get young guys in there, particularly with the responsibility we give to [center] Chris Spencer, as an example. I will say this, there are some things [Sunday] that Rob Sims did so well, and then you see young guys do it and if they do it once, why not every time? Then I remember that they're young. It's just part of growing up in this league."
The caveat is this: Holmgren has Floyd Womack ready to go into the game if anyone is not playing well at either guard or tackle spot.
"I wouldn't hesitate to do that," Holmgren said. "Everyone kind of knows that. It's not a threat or anything, it's just this is how we want to play the football game. If you're having a tough time, this is what I might do."
Spencer would seem to be the guy the Seahawks can't replace, being the only center on the roster. But he has made a couple of off-target shotgun snaps in recent games and is also among those linemen who have struggled at times in blocking.
"To be able to snap the ball and cut-off block over there, or reach over here, or do whatever you do as a center, it's different," Holmgren said. "Every once in a while the ball does funny things, and I don't necessarily want Matt [Hasselbeck] having to jump for that ball."
Spencer's backup is starting right guard Chris Gray.
Hasselbeck, Alexander sit
Hasselbeck missed practice Wednesday with sore ribs, but Holmgren said his quarterback's conditioning is improving and hopes Hasselbeck can do some throwing outside of practices by the end of the week.
Holmgren maintained Hasselbeck can play Sunday at St. Louis.
"Would you like him to practice? Certainly. But he's played enough to be able to play in the game," Holmgren said. "I just am glad that they're [doctors] telling me he can play, regardless of the opponent. I think it's a tough assignment, if you don't practice during the week, against anybody, a division opponent or non-division opponent. But he is familiar [with the Rams], and I think if you're going to look for a little bit of a glass-half-full thing on there, yeah, a division opponent helps."
![]()
Running back Shaun Alexander also missed practice, decreasing any chance he'll play Sunday on an injured knee. It seems Alexander will be dealing with his cracked left wrist all season long.
"I meant it when I said it. If I put him on the field when he's not 100 percent, it will probably be more of what he went through before, maybe even worse, and then he really runs the risk of getting hurt again," Holmgren said. "And we don't want that to happen."
Notes
• WR D.J. Hackett was limited in practice because of swelling in his left knee.
• DT Rocky Bernard (groin), LT Walter Jones (shoulder) and Gray (team decision) didn't practice. Ray Willis played in Gray's place.
Copyright © 2007 The Seattle Times Company
Vikings easily beat the Seahawks
Jerry Brewer: Jerry Brewer: Seahawks can't lean on the Hutch Crutch now
Brett Favre has masterful performance against Seahawks
Good day for Vikings defenders

Real Salt Lake wins MLS Cup
Real Salt Lake defeated the Los Angeles Galaxy with penalty kicks after 120 minutes of play at Qwest Field in Seattle.
nwjobs

Post a comment

Michelle Goodman blogs about work/life balance.
How to tell your office you're gravely ill
Post a comment
nwautos

Choosing a new sedan? Weigh the impact of your choice on your wallet and on the planet.
Post a comment
- 'The Road' takes Viggo Mortensen to Mount St. Helens and Astoria, Ore.
- Tugboat sinks at Seattle waterfront pier
- Child-support error costs nearly $21,000
- Craigslist adoption ad: A plea by young mother-to-be? A scam?
- Chase shrugs off loss of CD investors
- Vikings easily beat the Seahawks
- Denny Triangle gains skyline, but tenants slow to come
- Snow piles up on Cascade slopes
- Woman stabbed by stranger in North Seattle
- Husky Men's Basketball Blog | Saturday's Pac-10 games in review
- Vikings easily beat the Seahawks
134 - Child-support error costs nearly $21,000
129 - Palin excitement builds in Tri-Cities
123 - Tight Senate vote launches health care over hurdle
122 - Cutting through breast-cancer confusion
90 - Prosecutor requests life in prison for Amanda Knox
89 - Historic health care bill clears Senate hurdle
88 - Game thread
70 - New York terror trials will restore faith in rule of law
65 - Chase shrugs off loss of CD investors
54
- 'The Road' takes Viggo Mortensen to Mount St. Helens and Astoria, Ore.
- Child-support error costs nearly $21,000
- It's possible to recover a life lost to hoarding
- Washington state wines make annual best-of list
- Banff: powder, peaks & purity
- Chase shrugs off loss of CD investors
- Protect yourself from baggage loss
- Rediscovering Moab, 'the most beautiful place on Earth'
- Denny Triangle gains skyline, but tenants slow to come
- Northwest Living | On Whidbey, a unified home from multiple recycled parts





