Hawks game plan: Business as usual

KIRKLAND — It's a normal week of practice for the Seahawks, the last one they'll have until the week of the first regular-season game of 2006, in September.

Such is the plan for this week, as the Seahawks will get in as much regular work, game planning and practice time as they can before they depart Sunday for Detroit and Super Bowl XL.

When they get to the Motor City for the Feb. 5 game, things will be very different. Distractions will be everywhere. Media obligations will have to be met. Players' families will be around. That's why taking advantage of this week is critical, coach Mike Holmgren said.

Holmgren has been a head coach in two Super Bowls with the Green Bay Packers and an assistant in two others with the San Francisco 49ers. He knew exactly what to tell his players in a team meeting Monday.

"I said, 'This is like nothing you will ever go through preparing for a game in your life, but we will have a normal practice week this week,' " Holmgren said. "It will be like we were going to play the game on Sunday."

This year, the Super Bowl will be played two weeks after the NFC and AFC championship games. That gives teams an extra week to prepare at home.

Most teams take advantage of the extra time and have normal schedules the week before Super Bowl Week, so Holmgren's plan is not out of the ordinary.

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A typical week for the Seahawks means one 1 ˝-hour full practice on Wednesday and Thursday after a day off for the players on Tuesday. Then there is a 1-hour, 15-minute practice on Friday. The team also goes through morning walk-through sessions.

The team would normally leave for a road game on a Saturday, but with no game this Sunday, they will practice this Saturday, then head for Detroit on Sunday.

Once there, Holmgren said players will have curfews.

"I'm not, 'No curfew — here's the car keys and I'll see you on Sunday,' " Holmgren said. "As opposed to ... 'I'm going to keep the hammer on you all the time,' I'm somewhere in the middle. We'll have a curfew, but it will be a little bit later from Sunday until ... the families come in on Thursday."

Players appreciated Holmgren having and discussing a plan for the days ahead, realizing that their coach has been to the big game before. Today the team will continue with the business side of things, dealing with seat assignments for the flight, hotel-room bookings and other details, while coaches continue to look over the game film from Sunday's win.

"It was really a comforting feeling today having him get up and talk about, 'Well, when I was in this Super Bowl we did this; when I was in that Super Bowl we did this,' " quarterback Matt Hasselbeck said.

'05 Hawks Audio Recap


Weeks 1-4

ˇ Times columnist Steve Kelley looks back on Seattle's tumultuous first four weeks of the regular season.

Weeks 5-9

ˇ Beat writer Jose Romero recounts the beginning of the Hawks' 11-game winning streak in weeks 5-9.

Weeks 10-13

ˇ NFL expert Chris Cluff throws down the knowledge as Seattle improves to 10-2 in weeks 10-13, and begins eying home-field advantage for the playoffs.

Weeks 14-17

ˇEnterprise reporter Greg Bishop reminisces about the final four weeks of a Seahawks regular season to remember Link

Produced by Spike Matau, seattletimes.com staff

Holmgren wasn't the only one to speak and put the players at ease. Gary Wright, Seahawks vice president of administration, has run the Super Bowl's media center for the past 20 years, and he explained how things will go for the team in that regard. Tod Leiweke, the Seahawks' CEO, told the players that the team would take care of everything else so they could concentrate on football.

"There are definitely enough resources of people that have been there," Hasselbeck said. "Even guys on our team that have been there and played in this game, and I guess you just have to listen and try to learn what you can from those types of people."

When Holmgren was coaching in Green Bay, he had two of his players, Don Beebe and Jim McMahon, talk to the Packers about what the Super Bowl was like. He'll take the same approach with his current players this week.

Options include defensive end Grant Wistrom, wide receiver Joe Jurevicius, center Robbie Tobeck, safety John Howell and defensive tackle Chuck Darby.

So how will practice go in Detroit, where the Seahawks will be using the Lions' practice facility in suburban Allen Park, Mich.?

"You can do some things there, but you have to have a good practice week this week," Holmgren said. "We'll practice once a day in Detroit, but here we practice twice a day. We get squeezed on time with the media obligations. But we'll get most of it done here. We will work on stuff there and we have four or five practices. It's OK to do stuff there."

José Miguel Romero: 206-464-2409 or jromero@seattletimes.com