Seahawks look to improve running game

KIRKLAND — The Seahawks took their first steps toward next season Friday when they began a week of offseason practices.

The rush to improvement began months ago, however, as the Seahawks added two new tailbacks, subtracted one former league MVP and hired a new coach for the men whose job is to give Seattle the room to run.

Seattle practiced for the first time with all those new parts, taking the field with a rushing offense rebuilt from the ground up with veterans who were signed to give the Seahawks a new direction going forward.

"We bring a lot to the table," T.J. Duckett said, one of two new running backs. "We bring a lot of experience, and it's not our first go-round."

The Seahawks have been on the road to improvement for a while. They changed the tires of their ground game, signing tailbacks Duckett and Julius Jones in free agency and cutting Shaun Alexander, who is scheduled to visit the Cincinnati Bengals on Monday.

Seattle added some horsepower by signing left guard Mike Wahle. They changed mechanics on the offensive line, firing line coach Bill Laveroni and hiring Mike Solari to tighten the nuts and bolts of a unit that repeatedly misfired in short-yardage situations in 2007.

Now comes the hard work. The Seahawks must assemble those new pieces, using a little bit of practice and a whole lot of elbow grease to improve a rushing offense that sputtered to 1,619 yards in 2007, the franchise's lowest rushing total since Mike Holmgren's first year as coach in 1999.

The Seahawks deemed the ground game their top priority for offseason improvement and began a top-to-bottom reconfiguration. The same thing happened in the secondary after 2006 when Seattle signed Brian Russell and Deon Grant in free agency, added Jim Mora as assistant coach and then went out and allowed the fewest touchdown passes in the league in 2007.

The goal this offseason is to create a similar improvement in the rushing totals.

"When you bring a guy like me in, you bring a new coach in, the expectation is we are going to be better in the running game," Wahle said. "And I expect that."

A true measurement of any improvement won't come for months. The line isn't even at full strength now; left tackle Walter Jones and center Chris Spencer aren't participating in these practices as they are continuing their rehabilitation from offseason shoulder surgeries.

Solari's addition may turn out to be the most important. He comes from the San Francisco 49ers coaching tree, joining that staff the year Holmgren left the 49ers to become Green Bay's head coach. Solari coached in Kansas City the past 11 years, serving the past two as offensive coordinator.

His voice carried an urgency Friday on the practice field, his instructions summoned from deep in his stomach and delivered at a volume that can make 300-pound men move a little bit quicker.

"I've never had an offseason where we're working as much as we are," Wahle said.

Consider it the first steps of improvement in an aspect of the offense that is a non-negotiable ingredient to success.

"There are certain situations where you have to run the ball," quarterback Matt Hasselbeck said.

For instance, when it's fourth down in an overtime at Cleveland and the Seahawks had the ball in Browns territory. Or perhaps in a playoff game in Green Bay and the weather has turned the stadium into a snow globe.

The Seahawks absolutely needed to be able to run the football in those situations last season, and they absolutely couldn't. Those are the shortcomings the Seahawks sought to address this offseason, and Friday offered a preliminary glimpse.

"It will be hard to evaluate until we put on the pads and really get playing a little bit," Holmgren said.

NOTES

• DT Rocky Bernard is not participating in these practices as he recovers from offseason foot surgery. He faces a domestic-violence charge after he was arrested last month. Holmgren was asked about the case, and he said no conclusion has been reached.

"Let it run its course," Holmgren said of the case. "And when it's all done, people will go, 'Oh.' We like Rocky. Obviously he's a good football player, and I want him to get healthy, physically."

• Other players not participating in practice: S Mike Green (foot), LB Will Herring (knee), WR Deion Branch (knee), DT Marcus Tubbs (knee) and DE Patrick Kerney (shoulder).