Worried because at one point 20 percent of his roster was sidelined with injuries, Holmgren made the decision this week to shelve quarterback Matt Hasselbeck for the remainder of the preseason.

The Seahawks are officially saying that Hasselbeck is suffering from a sore back -- and he did in fact sit out a week after wrenching his back during the team's first preseason game in Minnesota.

But Hasselbeck appears to be fine now, though Holmgren says he is playing it safe with the 10-year veteran to make sure he is available for the season opener in Buffalo on Sept. 7.

"Absolutely your starting quarterback has to be ready for the first regular-season game," Holmgren said. "When guys have played as long as he has played, or as some other quarterbacks around the league have played, you're not quite as concerned. I want him to feel better. That's my main concern."

--In what Mike Holmgren said was the first time in his career, the Seahawks end the preseason with just four days between games. They play the Chargers on Monday night, then end in Seattle on Friday night against the Raiders. Holmgren said because of that, he was forced to put in more of the offense prior to the Chargers game, which forced more mistakes in practice that week -- and more blowups for Holmgren. One day he forced the offense to stay after to work on screen passes. On what was supposed to be the last day of training camp, Holmgren gave the players the day off, allowing them to go see the movie, Pineapple Express. With Tuesday off, Thursday a walkthrough and Friday the game, the Seahawks will have only one day of practice this week.

--When the Seahawks were in their former practice facility, the fields were ringed by trees and an office building. Now that they are in their new facility on the shores of Lake Washington, a breeze is a constant companion at practice. That's good for the players -- bad for the kickers. "It is a lot of wind coming off the water," punter Ryan Plackemeier said. "But that is good practice because it is just practice and it doesn't get any windier than this anywhere we go. Hopefully that prepares us for the road." The new facility also has other differences: On a recent sunny day, as many as 10 boats floated along the lake trying to get a glimpse of practice.

--When quarterback Charlie Frye nearly missed Leonard Weaver on a screen pass in a recent practice, Mike Holmgren's frustration level grew. When Frye then altogether missed rookie Justin Forsett on the same play, Holmgren's temper soared. He threw his hands in the air and screamed, "Why are we so (bad) at this play." Soon thereafter, he sent the defense inside and made the offense stay after practice to work on the screen pass, which he would like to implement into the offense this season now that he has running backs who can catch the ball. "We should be a good screen team, we have guys capable of doing it, we've done it in the past," Holmgren said. "And if I think practice should be going a certain way and it doesn't, I'm not very happy about it. We'll get there."

--Though rookie running back Justin Forsett is only 5-7 -- something often cited by coach Mike Holmgren -- special teams coach Bruce DeHaven, who would like to use Forsett as his returner, says Forsett is not small. "There are little guys out there who are 5-8, 165 or 170 pounds. Those guys generally don't last too long," DeHaven said. "They might light it up for a while, but they can't take the physical beating. And then there are these guys who are 5-6, 5-7 and weigh 200 pounds. They are not little guys, they are just short guys. It's a big difference. Justin, just like (Jacksonville's Maurice) Jones-Drew, is a short guy."

QUOTE TO NOTE: "Yeah, a couple of guys did that yesterday. I can't say who -- Julius (Jones) would get upset if I told you. He was excited about being the first one there. I guess he waited around a while." -- Matt Hasselbeck, when asked if any of his teammates accidentally went to the old practice facility on the first day they practiced at their new one.