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HEAD COACH MIKE HOLMGREN (on how he will handle this game against the Colts)
"We want to get home-field advantage, we want to try and get what the Colts have. Everybody knows that is very important for any team and so we're going to just play the game. I'm trying to get our young team to play to a certain level all year regardless of their opponent and they've done a decent job of that. Now we're playing probably the best team in the NFL this year, so goodness we got to play."
HEAD COACH MIKE HOLMGREN (on if they don't change knowing that the Colts starters won't be playing the whole game)
"How Tony [Dungy] plays it is up to Tony, but we still have a lot to play for and we entering knew ground for the Seahawks so we have to play a certain way."
HEAD COACH MIKE HOLMGREN (on if Edgerrin James and Shaun Alexander are the of the league's best)
"There's no question about that and they have been for a while. These aren't one year guys, these guys have been productive for a number of years and very resilient and very, very important for their teams."
HEAD COACH MIKE HOLMGREN (on how it's been with Shaun Alexander handling his contract this season)
"It's been great. I think Shaun has handled this as professionally and maturely as one could. I looked at the franchise as a compliment because you're going to get paid very well, you're one of the best in football we want you to stay and we need you to stay, but unfortunately over the years that thing has taken on the idea that you're really trying to restrict the player. We want Shaun Alexander to stay here and I believe he wants to stay here, so now it's just a matter of trying to get this long term thing done. He's handled it beautifully this year."
HEAD COACH MIKE HOLMGREN (on some players not handling situations as Shaun Alexander did)
"Yea and I would be the first to say if a player is not happy where he is and he is in that situation then he shouldn't stay he should go somewhere else. But that isn't the case here and sometimes for a number of reasons a club gets locked in to doing business a certain way. The player's representative might view something a little differently, and so you have to use this to keep the player there but it is not a bad thing. We told Shaun if he signed it this year that we would not do it to him next year and we're going to stick by our word on that. But my hope is, and I believe his hope is that everything gets worked out."
HEAD COACH MIKE HOLMGREN (on how Matt Hasselbeck has grown since he guaranteed a win in overtime against Green Bay)
"We've got to remember when Matt did that. We were in a great game with the Packers and we were excited to be able to be in overtime and Matt's an excitable type and he knew all of those guys. There's a side of Matt that thinks he's Jay Leno. I think after that we talked about it and I would rather he didn't that in that situation. His teammates liked him for it and that was part of the building process to him being the leader of this football team, and he has had a great year this year. He has developed into the player that I always thought he could be and now his future is very, very bright."
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