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Holmgren Conference Call
Wednesday, October 6, 2004
(On the team’s 3-0 start)
“We had the first two games on the road and when I looked at the schedule, New Orleans at New Orleans and Tampa away, I wasn’t that excited about how they set it up for us. But winning those two, particularly after we struggled on the road last year, has done wonders for our confidence. I like how the team is playing. We have a lot of young kids flying around pretty good right now, and doing the right things for the most part. It’s good to get off to a nice start.”
(On if this team is what he envisioned)
“Last year when we finished, I felt, offensively, that the pieces were kind of there. We could move the ball decently at times. The quarterback is confident, and we had a pretty good line. On defense, we had trouble at times, and real trouble at times, stopping anybody over the past few years. Last year, Ray Rhodes came in, and we improved from the bottom of the barrel to up to about 20th in the league. It was our hope that the defense would continue to improve, and we’re doing that now. That’s encouraging to me. When your defense can get the other team off of the field, get your offense more touches, you get better field position, you get better chances for turnovers, good things happen. We are getting closer to what I envisioned when I came here.”
(On the Seahawks defense)
“I think the biggest thing has been our front. Acquiring Grant (Wistrom), who you guys know very well, was a big thing for us. He’s a good football player. We knew that when we played against him all of those years. But more than that, he brought an attitude and a work ethic, and his ability, that was good for us. Like I said, we are very young on defense. So to have guys that the young guys can look at, how they practice and how they play, that’s really important for us taking the next step defensively. Our defensive line, I’m not saying I’m surprised, but they put it together nicely. We’re playing a lot of folks in there. We drafted (Marcus) Tubbs in the first round. He’s in there and he’s a rookie. And Rashard Moore is a young guy, second-year player in there, and I’m pleased with how the defensive line is playing. They set the table for the linebackers and secondary.”
(On how long it has taken for the veterans to impact the younger players)
“In our case, it seemed to happen right away. In the secondary, here’s an example, Kenny Hamlin and Bobby Taylor live 10 minutes from each other in Houston. So here we have a young free safety, who started off the season last year, is a very talented young guy, but he’s young. He had his peaks and valleys last year, but just by working out with Bobby in Houston, and just hanging out with him. He has come in this year and we have a very fine football player, talent-wise, and now he has a little maturity beyond his years because of his relationship with Taylor. Marcus Trufant, same thing. Kenny Lucas is having his best year so far. So I don’t think you can understate (the veteran leadership).”
(On the Rams’ offensive line)
“Losing Kyle Turley was a big, big blow to that team, just as it would be for any team. You have a Pro Bowl lineman at tackle, and he goes (out), but that happens with every team. All of a sudden you have to replace somebody that you hadn’t counted on losing, but you do it. It can’t happen with too many guys on the offensive line, because that’s the one area where continuity, and the ability to hold those guys together, if you can, is hugely important. But I still see my buddy Adam Timmerman, he’s in there and he’s doing great. (Orlando) Pace, along with Walter Jones, our tackle, are two of the best in football. We know this is a huge game for us and a big measuring stick for where we are as a football team.
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