Holmgren Transcript From Yesterday

by: Michael Steffes

Uh, look who found out where all the interview transcripts come from. Hope I am not harshing on anyones gig. Anyway, tell me if you like this sort of thing in the comments. I can take em or leave em', but I tend to prefer posts on other blogs that are based on original thought. I know one blog uses these interviews, almost exclusively, when there are no practices going on.

Without further ado.... Mike Holmgren from yesterday(6/2/08). To see...

(On the rookies at camp…) “We really try and push them a little bit to what they’re learning so they don’t come into training camp blind about anything. My challenge to them this morning was that everyday as individuals you get better. The rookies will spin because we’re throwing a lot of stuff at them but some of those guys we’re hoping for a contribution this year so that’s how we have to do it.”

(On Hasselbeck’s health…) “He is healthy. He’s feeling pretty good, I think and he’s had a good offseason, he’s here and running those workouts. He and Lofa (Tatupu) run the workouts for us when we can’t be out on the field, so I think he’s feeling comfortable. He’s feeling good. We’re adding some new things and we add as much as we can add that he’ll retain and function well.”

(On the new coaches…) “They’re doing a great job, they really are. I’m very impressed. First of all, they work hard and then they’re excellent guys and then they communicate well which is the most important thing probably, to communicate well with their position groups. They have learned our stuff quickly. That’s a learning curve too for them and then they’ve added a little wrinkle here and there, and I like it. So, that’s going well.”

(On how different this offseason has been compared to past offseasons…) “I don’t think it’s been any really different than any offseasons we’ve had before. There is always a chance you have a contract thing and that’s why we’ve got that thing with Bobby (Engram), there’s always a chance that a good guy gets jammed up a little bit and that’s what happened with Lofa. And you guys know him, he’s a good guy. So, I would say the offseason is pretty much the way it always is.”

(On Tatupu and his recent problem…) “You guys know him he’s a really fine guy. I always say ‘but for the grace of God go aye’, you know I mean and I think if we all looked at our own things that we do and how many times you’ve been driving to fast and didn’t get caught, things like that. You know stuff happens and its life and he has felt very, very bad about it. He is a good man. He is a leader of this football team and people that know him know that and so he learned from this. It will never happen again and now we move on.”

(On what Coach Holmgren said to Tatupu…) “I didn’t have to say a whole lot, he knew. He’s that type of young man. He felt bad and he knows what his role is on this football team and like I said I didn’t have to say anything. He felt horrible.”

(On the decision on the starting running back…) “We probably won’t make that decision right until late. We’ll go into training camp. You know Mo (Morris) and Julius (Jones) are going to carry the ball a good portion of the time. Leonard’s (Weaver) going to be our starting fullback. The one I have to figure out a little bit is how we are going to use Duckett.”

(On the backfield and how it will be used…) “I think the backfield we kind of know how we’re going to use it. We have to figure out how we are going to use it for T.J. This is no different than it always is, you know, with offseason surgeries and stuff. Rarely do you have all your offensive linemen. They are learning the plays and it’s new for them like it is for Julius. I got it pretty well set in my mind except for a couple of positions. We just have to figure out how we are going to use them.”

(On if Nate Burleson’s role will change with special teams…) “That’s another one. That’s one of those things like I just mentioned. I would say that we are going to have to see how that goes. He’s a valuable special teams player and he’s good for us, but if he is our starting split end I might have to reevaluate that. Then I have to see if someone can do what he did. We are working on that.”

(On Rob Sims being back for this camp…) “I don’t think so. But he is coming along just fine. He’s on schedule. He’s not ahead of schedule.”

(On when Deion Branch will be on the field again…) “No, we will make a decision right up around opening game.”

(On the biggest differences from the Super Bowl team in 2005…) “Well, I think we had such a good, productive offensive line that year. Then you lose Tobeck and Hutchinson. Then you substitute young players, so you’re going to have a change there. You’ll have good young players, but young players. You’re going to have some change there. Walter (Jones) was a little nicked up the last couple years so that’s going to have some effect. Maybe the biggest one is that Shaun (Alexander) was hurt. Both years he got hurt. You put all that together and you kind of get what you get.”

(On Walter Jones’ health…) “He’s fine. He’s coming along fine.”

(On the young wide receivers…) “My thing there is I think we are talented but we are awful young. We really are young, and inexperienced so I’m paying particular attention to those kids. They’ll have to play. I want to make sure and make the right decision.”

(On Deion Branch and his role…) “It’s a tough one, because we don’t know. Right now I’m not thinking much about him yet. I’ve got to get my mindset going on those other guys. Deion when he’s ready and he can play, he’ll play and we’ll be fine. Until that time, if I go in thinking that I’m going to have him at a certain time, that’s a big disappointment, so I’m kind of looking at it the other way. Then when he’s ready to go he’ll tell me and that’s the other thing to consider, is that you have an injury of any kind with any player and they look at the medical book and it says this is a 4-6 week injury, this is this and this is this, well guys heal differently, for starters. No one knows. We need him and we hope he comes back as quickly as he can.”

(On how much Branch will practice at camp when he comes back…) “It is hard to come back and go 100% right away but you can point to other athletes who have come back. To answer your question, yes we hope he comes back soon, but some guys go longer. When a guy comes off an injury though, we won’t put him on the field until he says to push him in practice time so the rest of his leg gets strong. The injury could be fine, but then because of the injury he’s not as strong as he should be and those types of things. So now you have holes to work out. So that’s what they talk about when that injury takes longer. He’s doing fine. He’s right on track. They’re please with is progress.”

(On how much of a read Coach Holmgren gets in a mini camp on the young guys, especially the receivers…) “You can see whether or not you have pads on, the receivers have to do what they do. You can see how they catch, how they run routes, how they retain the information, those things. You can evaluate those guys pretty well even in a mini camp, maybe more so than say a guard or a defensive tackle and those kinds of things where the pads really separate the men from the boys on that deal.”

(On whether Coach Holmgren will work all the young receivers at the flanker position…) “No probably not, no.”

(On where the young receivers will play…) “I think right now I think Courtney Taylor working at Z, Jordan Kent’s at X, Logan’s at Z, I think. In fairness to the receivers, we’re going to stick them some place and have them learn instead of having them learn three positions. We’re going to try that and see how it works out.”

(On the move of Keith Gilbertson to receivers coach…) “He’s a pain (laughs). No, he’s doing great. When I asked him, he was a little reluctant at first to be honest with you. I said, ‘Good coaches are good coaches’. He’s a good communicator, he’s a good teacher. He’s been an offensive coordinator. I have no reluctance. He’s doing it and he’s doing a great job.”

(On whether Coach Gilbertson thought Coach Holmgren was kidding about being the receivers coach…) “Well he kind of looked at me. Maybe for the first 5 seconds, then I was kind of looking at him like, ‘I’m not kidding.’”

(On if changing his philosophy because the receivers are so young…) “Well, I think so. That’s one of the reasons and I think they have to be good right away. There’s a learning curve involved certainly but I want to try and speed it up if I can do it, now if I can do it and I think the best way to do that is to have them learn and get comfortable with doing one thing right now.”

(On how Tripplett will fit in…) “He’s a good young guy. He is a hard working guy. We have to see. It’s one of those things. It’s way too early to tell. We have a pretty good group of defensive lineman now and we just have to see. It’s hard to tell at mini camps. You have to wait until you put the pads on for offensive and defensive linemen.”

(On what Coach Holmgren has at running back…) “I think we know how Mo (Morris) is going to play. He will play well. I know what he can do he’s been with us a long time. Leonard (Weaver), came on last year and got better as the season went on and I need him too. I hope he continues going. He should. He’s a good player, physically talented enough. Julius, I don’t know as well but he appears to have good quickness, good hands, the right guy. I don’t see any downside to him. I think that will work out fine. Like I said, I just have to work out and then Kirtman is with us. I have to kind of work out how we’re going to use Duckett. That is really the question, as to how we’re going to use a player.”

(On how to use Duckett…) “Is he a fullback, is he a halfback, do I use him on short yardage and who comes out of the game if I do that. It’s all that kind of stuff.”

(On whether or not Morris and Julius are guys you can just leave in the game…) “No, they’re in the game. I don’t think I will have to plan around them. Mo absolutely not, and Julius I don’t think so. I just haven’t been with him enough.”

(On how that changes things for Coach Holmgren…) “It makes it easier. With the few seconds you have to really make an intelligent call, you don’t have to think so much about protections, who’s in the game, the type of route you call. If you don’t have a guy that can do all those things, absolutely it’s my responsibility to try and do that to help the team. If you don’t have to, it’s easier. It’s easier to call the play and go.”

(On patience with kickers…) “I think you do, particularly if you draft one. If you draft one you’re going to make a financial commitment right away. You should never draft a kicker, unless you think he’s pretty good. I’ve told you guys this story about Ryan Longwell. In Green Bay, we drafted a kicker very, very high. He got hurt, so we brought in this guy. I didn’t even know his name. He stood in front of me and the first kick he kicked, he hit our left tackle right in the head with the ball, and the second one hit our tight end right in the butt. It didn’t get more than 3 feet off the ground. I turned around and no one would look at me. It was Ryan Longwell and he has been one of the great kickers of the league forever. He just had a rough day. It was his first day, he was nervous, and he was a great kicker. I’ve learned patience over the years. I’m a little more patient than I used to be.”

I will have a little more in a bit on what I find the most interesting about what he said...