Power Outage Forcing Seahawks to Adapt Preparations For Cardinals

Lack of electricity at the VMAC has left the Seahawks scrambling to adjust with a huge Week 12 contest against the Cardinals looming.

Jul 27, 2024; Renton, WA, USA; Seattle Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith (7) passes the ball during training camp at Virginia Mason Athletic Center. Mandatory Credit: Steven Bisig-Imagn Images / Steven Bisig-Imagn Images

RENTON, Wash. - Gearing up for a critical Week 12 home clash with the Arizona Cardinals, the Seattle Seahawks continue to have to call audibles thanks to a major storm that has knocked out power for much of the region, including at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center.

With generators helping run the indoor practice field, Seattle practiced at the facility on Wednesday and without offering specifics on adjustments made, coach Mike Macdonald said the coaching staff rearranged and juggled their weekly schedule a bit with hopes of power being restored soon.

"We pushed some things back," Macdonald told reporters on Wednesday. "There are some things we don't have in the building, but we're just fine."

But as of Thursday morning, per team sources, the Seahawks still didn't have power or hot water at the VMAC with efforts underway throughout Seattle and its suburbs trying to repair widespread damage resulting from the "bomb cyclone" that struck on Tuesday night. While the team is expected to still practice and hold press conferences as scheduled on Thursday, according to NFL Network insider Mike Garafolo, they could move Friday's final practice session to Lumen Field.

From a game planning perspective, being without power creates mostly 21st century problems for the Seahawks. They likely haven't been able to show film to players in positional meetings via projector and installing the game plan has most likely pivoted from being done digitally to a more old school process with dry erase board, pen, and paper.

Of course, players and coaches have the ability to watch film on mobile devices and computers at home, depending on who has power currently, so there are plenty of workarounds to compensate for positional meetings not being orchestrated like a usual practice week.

"I don't think it's impacted us as much," receiver DK Metcalf said on Wednesday. "We still have to come in; we still have to install. The Cardinals aren't making any excuses, so we can't make an excuse for ourselves. So I mean, we still got to install it, and we still were able to walk through and now go out there to practice."

On the practice field, Seattle may not have all of the technological resources at its disposal that it usually has either, including big screens on the sideline for players to watch replays and the team DJ jamming tunes. But at the end of the day, with rain continuing to be in the forecast, actual practices shouldn't be impacted much, if at all, especially with a generator keeping the indoor facility lit up and operating.

Where the Seahawks have felt the greatest impact this week, however, has been accommodations beyond the practice field. The team has not had food service available for players over the past two days, which has a negative impact on their nutritional program, while the lack of warm water means players will have to shower away from the facility. Such disruptions to normal operations could easily serve as a potential distraction during the work week.

At the same time, as Macdonald pointed out to open his press conference on Wednesday, many people in the Seattle region are dealing with far worse situations after Tuesday's storm knocked down trees and power lines, resulting in damage to homes, cars, and other property. Considering circumstances, he and his team won't be complaining about inconveniences created by the elements and will continue to adapt accordingly preparing for a football game as needed.

"I know there's a lot going on in our city right now with the power going out, the storm and everything. Our thoughts and prayers are with everybody. Everybody hopefully stays healthy and we appreciate everybody on the scene helping everybody out."

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