EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsRENTON, Wash. -- As the Seattle Seahawks look to become only the third team this century to repeat as Super Bowl champions, they aren't talking about defending their title or "running it back."Coach Mike Macdonald has come up with a different bit of messaging."We're using the term, we want to run it forward -- 'it' meaning our process and who we are," Macdonald said Tuesday. "I think this is going to be ... something that we're going to talk about consistently. I don't think it's a one-and-done type of conversation. Really, it's just how we talk about how we operate all the time. It's something that we're having conversations with our team and our units every day about who we want to be and how we want to do things, and this situation is no different."Macdonald often preaches the importance of focusing on process over results. Those words have made their way onto one of the team-issued T-shirts that players and coaches wear around Seahawks headquarters."Run it Forward" could be next."I think when you look at some of these high-performing teams that have been able to do it over a long period of time, I think the common thread that you find is a standard that you feel responsible to uphold on a daily basis, and part of that standard here is chasing edges, is a spirit of evolution and a spirit of moving forward all the time," Macdonald said. "So that's where our minds are. But giving us the freedom to move forward and have the space to kind of make each new phase of the year our own and unique to us. There's a balance there [of thinking about picking up where they left off versus starting from scratch]."But again, I've just been really pleased with every day's work and haven't sensed an ounce of complacency, and that's been really positive."The Seahawks' voluntary offseason program began April 20, 10 weeks and one day after their blowout win over the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LX. To account for the quick turnaround, Macdonald encouraged veterans and those who had played extensively down the stretch in 2025 to take part remotely for the first two weeks before joining in-person for the start of Phase 2. But many of those players showed up on the first day.Macdonald spoke to reporters after the Seahawks kicked off Phase 3 with their first organized team activity. They practiced outside as rain fell for much of the 2-hour, 20-minute session. Excluding specialists, all but four players were spotted -- outside linebackers DeMarcus Lawrence, Derick Hall and Dante Fowler Jr. and running back Emanuel Wilson.Hall, Fowler and Wilson had been taking part in earlier workouts, according to pictures posted on the Seahawks' website. Macdonald said Wilson is dealing with a personal matter, and that Lawrence, whose wife gave birth to their family's sixth child right after the Super Bowl, is "on his plan.""He's working through some things," Macdonald said of Lawrence. "But he's in great spirits and he'll be here at some point."Cornerback Devon Witherspoon has been in attendance as he awaits a new contract. He practiced Tuesday but did not take part in full-speed 11-on-11 reps."The guys have been great," Macdonald said of the attendance. "The guys that haven't been here, they've communicated. It's been phenomenal."The Seahawks recently installed a banner in their indoor practice facility commemorating their Super Bowl LX victory. It includes the score of the game and the names of every player and coach -- just like the one from their Super Bowl XLVIII victory that hangs alongside it.The team will have its ring ceremony in June."We don't avoid it, but it's not really the top of mind," Macdonald said about their Super Bowl victory. "There's necessary times to talk about it, like the ring ceremony. We'll be partying that night and having a great time and celebrating that team and those people, but it's not really in our focus right now. The way I phrase it to the team is, it's something that could be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Hopefully it's more than once-in-a-lifetime for our team, but that's a thing that happened that we can cherish and we should be proud of because of the amount of work that it took and all the things that go into winning a Super Bowl. We should be really proud of that."But I think the thing that we find the joy in is what we've created and the way of life about what we're trying to do here on a daily basis. If you think about last year's team ... the cool part about last year's team was the team and the process and the shadow boxing and all the stuff that goes with trying to become a great team every day."
