Seattle Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald cancelled practice on Monday to take the squad on a team-bonding trip to Topgolf before a busy final week of preseason.
The News Tribune’s Gregg Bell published a story before practice Tuesday detailing Macdonald’s leadership strategies. He mentions that they had a mandatory off-day Saturday before a high-intensity Sunday morning practice. This weekend planning was designed to prepare for their first early kickoff of the season when they visit the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 2.
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Macdonald is building toward the regular season by training the Seahawks to flip the switch on and off when necessary. Football is the only sport that you practice 6 times as much as you play- and you must be able to exert effort mentally, physically and spiritually at a controlled pace to maximize your explosiveness in short windows. The 90-man roster of ballplayers and athletes get to gel as humans while resting on the football front for one day, before they get on a plane to Green Bay to face the Packers in a joint practice and preseason game.
As starters and backups prepare to go to war during the season and reserves fight for roles and roster spots, the Seahawks’ team-bonding trip on Monday is an example of the current coaching staff working the team smarter instead of harder. And when the physicality is on display as it was in Friday’s win over the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs, it leaves little doubt that Seattle’s pads are warmed up and ready to pop hard against the 49ers in 19 days as well.
This article originally appeared on Seahawks Wire: Seahawks HC Mike Macdonald held practice at Topgolf on Monday