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Seahawks running back Shaun Alexander
Q: Is the outlook brighter this week?
A: “A little bit. A win always does that to every team.”
Q: How is your mental attitude this year after all that transpired in the off-season?
A: “It really wasn’t that big of an issue. From day one, they said they were going to re-sign me and try to get me in, and I said let’s find a way to make it right. Once I was franchised we had from March 15 to July 15 where we couldn’t talk and then July 28 we came up with the deal that we have. It took like 12 days for us to enter an agreement, so it was always kind of positive and moving in the right direction in my eyes.”
Q: Wasn’t it weird the lack of interest by other teams, given your accomplishments?
A: “I don’t think I had a lack of interest. When you’re franchised any time there is a trade rumor you get to know what’s happening first. There were a lot of teams saying they were willing to do something, but the Seahawks weren’t willing to let me go. And that’s cool for me. I like it here and they like me here.”
Q: How big of a relief was it to stay there?
A: “I got calls from coaches and players all through the whole summer, saying ‘hey, we’re building this thing here, we can’t wait until you get back. It’s going to be awesome.’ It never really felt like I was not going to be here. I wish I could say, ‘oh, yea, the wait was rougher, but I never felt like I was waiting. It just felt like the rules were rules. March 15 to July 15 you can’t be with the team, and that’s just the rules.”
Q: Talk about building upon last week’s win against this Cardinals team?
A: “Anytime you play at home, you need to take care of business. It’s so hard to win on the road in the NFL. It’s good to play back to back games at home. It’s a division game, and we all know that an 0-2 record for Arizona is kind of like fool’s gold. We know the talent they have there. They have two of our better players from last year. They have great receivers. I’m good friends with Fitzgerald. I know he’s going to get after it and have a good game, like he always does against us. It's a solid team. And the first two games didn’t go their way.”
Q: Is it going to be strange running into, or trying not to run into, Chike and Orlando?
A: “That’s going to my goal, never to see them. Hopefully, they get the gold watches I sent them. You know what? They’re going to have good games. They always do. They play hard. They run the whole field. It just is what it is.”
Q: Are you better prepared to make a run in the playoffs? Is this a better team?
A: “Yea, I think we enjoy being around each other more. This year has just been different. There’s a lot of new guys who came in here with something just funny about them. I don’t know if they tell a joke better in the locker room but we get on the field and we really just enjoy playing with each other just a little bit more than the last two years.”
Q: Anybody in particular stand out?
A: “No, it’s just a group. It could just be maturity. We were all so young.
It’s basically been, until we brought in all these guys this year from other teams, it’s basically been the same guys for four years. I think we’ve all just kind of grown up now.”
Q: Is there something on the field that makes you confident of winning a playoff game this season?
A: “Honestly, I feel like our backs are against the wall. I think we have no choice but to be better and go take the next step. I like to have the do-or-die, last stand kind of attitude that we have to have this year.”
Q: Does the team feel it is do or die this season?
A: “I’m just saying, for me, it’s let’s do it. We’ve spent four years putting together this offense, putting together this team, and all we’ve got is to the playoffs last year. We went from two years ago getting to the playoffs to last year, winning the division. So now it’s time to make a big jump. Otherwise, we’ve failed and that’s the bottom line.”
Q: Are your receivers improved?
A: “I think it’s just a focus thing. These guys get better every year. As quiet as it’s kept, Darrell Jackson has already broken some of Steve Largent’s records. Just no one knows. When you start talking about dropped balls, let’s talk about some of the good. When you start thinking about it like that, your eyes start to open up a little bit.”
Q: What’s it like running behind Walter Jones and Steve Hutchinson?
A: “You know, when you have Walter Jones on your team you automatically know you have the best offensive lineman in the NFL. And that’s just the bottom line. They make room. The line as a group, they play well together. They have fun. They have their little signals and everything is just down. They have conversations without talking. It’s just kind of fun. And I’m just really, really blessed, fortunate to just even be around these guys.”
Q: What do you think of the Cards defense?
A: “Speed. Man, those guys look really athletic to me. It looks like at any time they can make a big play, cause a big turnover, have a big interception. What you do against speed and athletic ability like that is you control your mistakes. They’re going to eventually make a play, so if we cut down on our mistakes, it’s going to give us a little advantage. But if we get to playing their game, then they can make us look really foolish.”
Q: Are the fans feeling like it is go time in Seattle?
A: “I don’t think it’s like a negative we’ve had enough. We’re moving in the right direction. We’ve been to the playoffs and then we won the division, so we’re headed in the right direction. It’s kind of like ‘who likes being the same?’ We definitely were better last year, in a better position with a home playoff game than we were the year before. So now it’s like let’s take the next step, not that we’ve had enough.”
Head Coach Mike Holmgren
Q: How is Ray Rhodes doing?
A: “You know what, he is doing better. He is improving. He has been in the office and part of the planning for the last two weeks. He is not on the football field during practice; I am kind of making him stay up in the building. On Sunday, he was in the press box sitting next to John Marshall, who is acting as the defensive coordiantor and calling the defenses.”
Q: Will that continue Sunday?
A: “I think so. Ray wants to get back on the field this week in practice and I think we will do that. My thing is, he is a tough guy to say no to on occasion but this is more important than a football game. He has to take it easy. The doctors are consulting me on how to do this.”
Q: Do you feel you guys are finally ready to take the next step as a team?
A: “Well, I think last year we were disappointed we didn’t go further. We won the division, which I feel is always a big thing regardless how people view your division. You know it’s always tough to win a game in this league. That was a good thing for us. The fact you are picked to go even farther, I think that affects your fans and people outside of the coaches/players groups, our approach is always the same. We have high goals and expectations. We have made the playoffs the last two years, and my goal as a coach is always been, develop a playoff caliber team, show some consistency over that, and if you get a little bit lucky and your quarterback gets hot and you’re not injured too much, you have a chance to go further and maybe get to the Super Bowl. We have a good football team; it’d be nice to win that first playoff game though. Clearly that would be the next step for us.”
Q: You guys beat the Falcons last week, do fell you can carry that momentum over to the game this weekend against the Cardinals?
A: “Well, right now, the records for any team in this league aren’t that important as far as preparation and how you view that team. I know this, last week in the film I saw, the Cardinals had a chance to win that game and I know how good the Rams are. Heck, things happen. Our expectation for the game, we know it will be a tough ballgame, we know the Cardinals are a good team, they are well-coached. We approach every game the same way. It’s too early in the season for any team to be written off or anointed. After two games, come on. It’s a long season.”
Q: Shaun Alexander said this year’s Seahawks locker room has a better feel, would you agree with that?
A: “Uh, I think they are all mad at me all the time, so I think that pulled them together. There is a good feeling on this team, but I felt the same way last year, I really did. There was a lot written and a lot said last year about one of our players last year, a fine football player, about his off the field issues he had to deal with, and it became an indictment on the team and the player, unfairly, I thought. We have a good feeling last year. But if the players ... I am not down in the locker room all the time, and if there is that feeling there, they have developed that camaraderie, I think that is healthy.”
Q: How is Pro Bowl tackle Walter Jones looking?
A: “He is pretty consistent. He didn’t have the training camp the past couple of years prior to this season and he was still pretty darn good. I always thought, however, early in the season, that was Walt’s training camp and even a great player has to get his timing down and those things. My personal feeling, he had a fine game against Atlanta. Being at training camp and being with the offensive line, I think that helps him. I don’t care how good you are. If he can maintain the level of play he has had in the first two ballgames, he will have another great season.”
Q: What do you think of the Cardinals two defensive ends in Chike Okeafor and Bertrand Berry?
A: “We know Chike very well because he was with us and I think Arizona is very fortunate to have him. In our offseason where we had all those free agents, he was the one guy I really didn’t want to lose. Our loss is the Cardinals gain. Berry is outstanding. I think the Cardinals have two of the best defensive ends. They are pressure guys, they are active guys. Our tackles have their hands full. We have Sean Locklear, a young guy at right tackle, Walter on the left side. They have their hands full. That’s an all-day sucker playing against the defensive ends of the Cardinals.”
Q: Tell us how much Bill Walsh helped you and Dennis Green?
A: “We were assistants, we shared an office. I considered Denny a good friend of mine in this business and I respect him as a football coach. Those were fun times, we had good football teams. Bill was very much a taskmaster. I was coaching quarterbacks and Denny was coaching receivers at the time. I think I was in the barrel a little more than Denny was. Bill got after me a little bit more. But I learned the most from Bill Walsh, as far as organization, as far as expectation level. You expect perfection, and you might come close. You demand it. For me, heck, it allowed me to go on and have the confidence to have a shot at being a head coach.”
Q: You also know Cardinals offensive coordinator Keith Rowen well…
A: “We went to the same high school and I coached for Keith’s father at San Francisco State, and I have known Keith for a long, long, long, long time. He was here long before I got into the league, and he has been a valuable coach for a long time. I am happy for the successes he had. He grew up in a great family. I love his dad. His father gave me a great chance to coach in college.”
Q: Your receivers had troubles at times last season, do you think they have improved?
A: “The criticisms were fair. We were careless with the football. When that happens you work hard on it in the offseason and make it a point of emphasis. This year we are off to a good start. We are catching balls, we are not dropping passes, and that‘s what wide receivers have to do. And once they catch the ones they should catch, then they have to start catching ones they shouldn’t. That hurt us, quite honestly, in the last couple of years. Jurevicius has come in, we have Peter Warrick come in to balance Engram and Jackson. I’ve got my fingers crossed. We’re off to a good start, and I hope it continues.”
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