On the health of the team:
"We are in pretty good shape. Of course we walked through so I think we are in good shape."
On the Seattle Seahawks:
"The problem with Seattle on offense is that they have a Pro Bowl quarterback, two running backs and one has been the MVP of the League. They have a big playmaker at receiver. They have a control passing receiver who does a great job. All the way around it is a tough assignment for us. Their return guy on teams is exceptional. He runs back punts and kickoffs. Defensively they are one of the top teams in the League at taking the ball away. We have a short work week, have to travel all the way to Seattle and play them at home. That is a tough assignment all the way around. They won four division titles in a row. I would say to Coach (Mike )Holmgren that is a big congratulations on that because that is hard to do."
On if he has any good stories on Seattle Head Coach Mike Holmgren:
"Not really, the trouble with coaches is that you just don't hang out together. You are normally trying to take each others jobs and that doesn't lend to spending a lot of time together. We have the League meetings but they are normally a bunch of meetings. I have known him for a long time and I have great respect for him. I have watched him over the years. He is one of the best play callers in the game. He has done a great job putting that whole deal together out there. We do know each other kind of conversationally but you just don't get to spend a lot of time with other coaches it seems like."
On if the winning streak that occurred at the end of the season reminds him of the winning streak to get into the playoffs during the 2005 season:
"What is probably similar is playing well at the end of the year. We got in real trouble in the middle of the year in '05. The guys got together and we won six in a row there. That portion of it is definitely the same. This team also, like that team, has over come a lot of injuries. The thing that is really different is losing Sean (Taylor). That was a totally different deal for us. This team has had to deal with that. I think there are some similarities. Certainly our veteran guys that came in with that first group have been here for four years. Now they remember that and of course they remember going to Seattle because we had a tough time out there and they knocked us out."
On if he is leaning on the guys more this year than he has in the past:
"I have always felt the best football teams that we have had are when they are player driven and it wasn't the coaches trying to get something done. It was more or less the players taking it upon themselves. Having said that you try and do that and they try and do that but it is hard to get and grasp. Since I have been here it has probably happened five times out of the 15 times that I have been here where the players take responsibility. You can hear them in the meetings and hear them at halftime. Like I said we meet with a committee of the players to talk about a little bit of everything. I think they have done a great job this year with leadership of directing things. This team has that. It is player driven. They took it upon themselves and they are the ones making sure things get done."
On the double timeout being the worst moment of his career and what it meant to him when he tried to take responsibility in front of the team and they wouldn't let him:
"I really appreciated later on in the week a number of the players saying things to me. I felt like it was important at that point. You always hold them accountable and you want to make sure that if you have a bad moment that you acknowledge that. I felt like that is what happened there and I said what I felt."
On if he can talk about the philosophy these last four weeks of letting them have walk-throughs instead of full practices:
"What happened was it was our short work week when we played the Bears. We had everything going on that week and the team was emotionally at that point going through a lot. We made a decision on it as a coaching staff to just walk thru that week. I will say this on the sideline before the Bears game they had a lot of excitement on that short work week. I could notice it on the sideline. Coaches are a product of if it works you stay with it. That is kind of what happened. Clinton (Portis, RB #26) and a bunch of them have been on me, they just want to be in pajamas all week and show up and draw some stuff on the ground. As a coach you are a product of if it works you stay with it. Certainly our guys looked fresh to me and they had a great attitude on the sideline. I talked it over with them and we proceeded with taking that approach. What we normally do is walk-thru the first day back, than have a normal practice and a normal practice. This week we will have Friday work tomorrow, which is Thursday if you can figure all of that out."
On if he believes momentum carries over when a team is playing well at the end of the season and going into the playoffs:
"Each game for me I have always tried to guess what teams are going to do and I can't. We were dressing in the locker room on one away game and I am going ?oh my gosh' because it did not look like we were mentally with it. Then we went out and played great. It is hard to determine. Each one of these games when you get into the playoffs is a season in itself. You know you have to have it. We have actually been in that environment for four weeks. I am hoping that plays in our favor. We have been under the gun since the Chicago game where we had to have it or we are out. Our guys have really responded and I am hoping that carries over."
On if he says anything to the young guys or if he lets the veteran guys handle them:
"I do talk to the young guys particularly in the meeting. Lots of times I address them. You leave it to the veteran guys too. The danger with the young guys is that they think it is going to go on forever, we are in the playoffs and are going to be in the playoffs every year. The veteran guys know that is not the case. They have been around for a while and it is hard to get. Another thing for young guys is that they are normally just happy to be on the team sometimes. We have some that have really stepped up and filled important roles for us this year. It is a little bit different for a younger guy than the veteran guy. I have noticed that the veteran guys yesterday were here the longest in meetings themselves. They realize how important this is. You kind of worry more about young guys."
