Holmgren reminds team what got them Super Bowl in first place

CHENEY, Wash. — With a final reminder from their coach about what it will take to get back to the Super Bowl, the Seattle Seahawks have broken training camp to head off to what they hope will be another prosperous season.

"We had a good camp and they worked very, very hard," coach Mike Holmgren told reporters after the final preseason practice Thursday at Eastern Washington University.

The Seahawks' next stop is in San Diego for a preseason game Saturday without several key offensive players, although the defense finally got all of its starters back over the last week.

"It was good to have all our guys back on the playing field," Holmgren said. "We're only going to miss a couple of guys in this game and we're getting healthier, so now we've got to continue building on what we built up here when we get back to Seattle."

Center Robbie Tobeck, wide receiver Darrell Jackson and tight end Jerramy Stevens, all starters, remained on the sidelines as the Seahawks completed final drills in an hour-long practice that focused on short yardage and red-zone situations.

Tobeck is recovering from surgery during camp to remove bone chips from his left elbow while Jackson missed all of camp after postseason surgery on his right knee. Stevens is expected to miss six weeks after he reinjured a surgically repaired left knee during practice Aug. 17.

Holmgren said he closed training camp with the same message he used to open it: Stay focused and remember the hard work it took to make it to the Super Bowl.

The Seahawks lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers 21-10 in Super Bowl XL.

Frequently, teams that play in the Super Bowl stumble in the following year, but Holmgren said he counseled his players to stay on course.

"I talked to them about why I felt that happened and why it felt it shouldn't happen to us," he said. Holmgren said his team is poised to return if it can avoid the post-Super Bowl pitfalls other teams have experienced.

"I think you kind of lose your focus a little bit and you say, 'Well, we got there once we can get there again' and you kind of forget a little bit all it took to get there," he said.

"The finality of losing the Super Bowl, that kind of hit us straight in the eyes and the guys didn't like the feeling of losing," Holmgren said. "So much of it is attitude. We had the best offseason preparation work we've ever had."

One big question still to be answered is whether league MVP running back Shaun Alexander can match or better his 2005 season of 1,880 yards rushing and a record 28 touchdowns.

Alexander "had a good camp," Holmgren said, and appears to be coping with the richest running-back contract in NFL history — an eight-year, $62 million deal. "He seems to have handled it very well, in my opinion," Holmgren said.

He doesn't think his star player will lose focus this season.

"He is going to be the one guy on this team who has a lot of opportunities to do a lot of things and he likes to do that stuff," Holmgren said. "But he and I have an agreement that when the season starts, he puts those things on the back burner and concentrates on football."

Barring injuries, the Seahawks are poised to make another run at the Super Bowl, Holmgren said. "But then when the season starts, you have to be very focused and this team just can't forget what allowed us to get to the Super Bowl in the first place."