Seahawks Coach: A.J. Hawk "Doesn't Have It Anymore"

[DaveRoller]

Not often a coach is so forthright about another player. Many thought that Hawk was bad. They apparently were correct.

http://cheeseheadtv.com/blog/seahawks-coach-aj-hawk-doesnt-have-it-anymore?

PHOENIX—If there was any lingering doubt that A.J. Hawk could play another season for the Green Bay Packers, surviving on his own smarts and guile—and that's not to say any such doubt existed—Seattle Seahawks offensive line coach Pat Ruel probably put that suspicion to rest.

A former Packers assistant under Mike Sherman in 2001 and 2002, Ruel brought up the topic of Hawk unprovoked at Super Bowl Media Day on Tuesday.

As the Seahawks offensive line coach, I had asked Ruel about facing Julius Peppers and Mike Daniels, guys he was pretty familiar with, having just prepared for and faced in the NFC Championship game.

"The guy you probably should ask me about is A.J. Hawk," said Ruel.

I was in mild disbelief.

You can hear me raise my voice, "Okay." It wasn't my intention to throw Hawk under the bus, or bring him up at all for that matter, but if Ruel wanted to do so, the soap box was his.

"A.J., he doesn't have it anymore," said Ruel. "I hate to say it. He's very instinctive, but we could see it a lot of times in the game. He didn't have enough speed to get there anymore. He's a guy that probably had a great career, and I would say he's pretty close to the end of it."

 

[Mondio]

Those Seahawks, pure class and humility. From top to bottom

Why? Is all I ask? We all know his time is drawing near. It was obvious his marginal speed has dipped considerably this year. Why does a coach who just benefitted from an unprecedented collapse and is facing another team on the biggest stage in sports, chose now to call out a player that doesn't even play for his or the opposing team?

Class and humility are two words that come to mind? What a ********

 

[ivo610]

I think you could find similar sentiments on this forum prior to the season

 

[GoPGo]

I think you could find similar sentiments on this forum prior to the season

I don't think that offers any mitigation to the fact that a coach should not just out of nowhere trash a player on another team for no apparent reason.

 

[Mondio]

I think you could find similar sentiments on this forum prior to the season

There's a difference between some emotional blowhard fan that takes longer to get from the couch to the fridge Than AJ can run the length of the field talking smack about a player and how fast he is, and a professional coach.

Besides not being blessed with amazing speed, Hawk has given a lot of years and effort to this team and it's fans. I expect a small number of fans to not have any respect for the players or the game, but not an opposing coach. I did have a momentary lapse in judgment though, we are talking about a Seahawk's coach. Humble and classy all the way.

 

[Ace]

This is just another reason why they have become my most hated team in the NFL, catapulting past the Bears and Cowboys. From their crying baby of a QB (yes, I'm from Wisconsin and never cared that he had a cup of coffee with the Badgers), to that gum chomping $#!thead of a coach Pete Carrol, to Schneider with his shirt off wearing a championship belt, to the f'ing LOB I hate them all. I will be the biggest Patriots fan in the world on Sunday and can't wait to play them next year.

 

[DaveRoller]

This is just another reason why they have become my most hated team in the NFL, catapulting past the Bears and Cowboys. From their crying baby of a QB (yes, I'm from Wisconsin and never cared that he had a cup of coffee with the Badgers), to that gum chomping $#!thead of a coach Pete Carrol, to Schneider with his shirt off wearing a championship belt, to the f'ing LOB I hate them all. I will be the biggest Patriots fan in the world on Sunday and can't wait to play them next year.

Personally, I am less concerned with the Seahawks boorish behavior than I am that GB had 2 players in Hawk and Brad Jones that Seattle specifically targeted and successfully exploited.

These two were terrible from game 1 this season and I can only hope they are shown the door sooner rather than later.

 

[Ace]

Personally, I am less concerned with the Seahawks boorish behavior than I am that GB had 2 players in Hawk and Brad Jones that Seattle specifically targeted and successfully exploited.

These two were terrible from game 1 this season and I can only hope they are shown the door sooner rather than later.

Fine, but that's our problem. I don't remember the last time an opposing teams coach came out and made comments like that about another teams players. Stay classy Seattle.

 

[Mondio]

Personally, I am less concerned with the Seahawks boorish behavior than I am that GB had 2 players in Hawk and Brad Jones that Seattle specifically targeted and successfully exploited.

These two were terrible from game 1 this season and I can only hope they are shown the door sooner rather than later.

I didn't realize I was making a case that AJ Hawk needs to be given and extension and a raise? Anyway, yeah, Hawk had marginal speed before, but played his role well for almost a decade thru hardwork, intelligence and being on the field every Sunday. Nobody is saying he was Ray Lewis, there are more than a handful of MLB's that were more successful than AJ has been in that period and truck loads that have been much, much worse.

It became apparent that he had lost a step or two from his even marginal speed at best. Why do fans and some opposing coaches have such animosity towards a guy, that by all accounts has been nothing but a hardworking and dependable professional his entire collegiate and professional career? Why? His time is obviously near, thank him and move on. Why be a **** about it? Because you can?

and since we had 2 linebackers that were horrible since game one, who should we have replaced them with? Maybe used the Cory Linsley pick on another linebacker? Scrapped Clinton Dix and got another linebacker? Davante Adams, sorry dude, we need another linebacker. Wanna trade any of them for a linebacker? or are you one of those that thinks every single draft pick is a homerun or you aren't doing your job?

 

[Deleted member 6794]

and since we had 2 linebackers that were horrible since game one, who should we have replaced them with? Maybe used the Cory Linsley pick on another linebacker? Scrapped Clinton Dix and got another linebacker? Davante Adams, sorry dude, we need another linebacker. Wanna trade any of them for a linebacker? or are you one of those that thinks every single draft pick is a homerun or you aren't doing your job?

I don´t have any animosity towards A.J. Hawk but it was obvious to everyone following the Packers that the team needed an upgrade at ILB during last offseason. Thompson has to be blamed for not addressing the position at all.

 

[DaveRoller]

I don´t have any animosity towards A.J. Hawk but it was obvious to everyone following the Packers that the team needed an upgrade at ILB during last offseason. Thompson has to be blamed for not addressing the position at all.

Agreed.

Don't know Hawk or Jones personally and they might well be fine fellows.

However, they were bad in 2013 bad during Kaepernick's record setting playoff game after the 2012 seas and terrible in 2014.

They were also pretty highly paid. They also both have another year left on their contracts.

TT does not make too many mistakes but he did on both Hawk and Jones.

 

[thisisnate]

AJ's given us a lot of... decent years. And he's been durable. I think we all love him for that. His time has come though. Just too sluggish. All the same, we can rip on on AJ because he's our slowpoke! Ya hear, Seahawks?! Back off!

 

[Mondio]

I don´t have any animosity towards A.J. Hawk but it was obvious to everyone following the Packers that the team needed an upgrade at ILB during last offseason. Thompson has to be blamed for not addressing the position at all.

It is obvious they need upgrading, I thought he took a few linebackers last year, and the year before. Some got hurt some didn't work. Trust me, I want better in the middle than those 2.

If TT was entrusted to just get linebackers, i'd be more upset. But he has an entire team to manage. I'm not going to go back over the draft board to know who was available when and where and how they turned out. People have been on Hawks back since the day he was drafted and Jones had people excited at one point, i realize he's regressed since his rookie year it seems.

But there are plenty of threads discussing their performance. I'm not hear to defend their play or make an argument they don't need to be upgraded at this point.

It's more about "why" does a coach that is going to the Super Bowl on a very fortunate set of circumstances take time to single out and degrade a player like Hawk, a player from a team they beat over a week ago?

 

[paulska]

Fact: AJ Hawk isn't that effective anymore. We knew it before anyone said anything about it. His real value is in getting calls right, and our own coach staff have been effusive about him and his ability to do that in a system as complex as Dom's.

Fact: The Seahawks are unbelievably in love with themselves. To wit:
- "Everyone counted us out" was the first phrase every player who spoke post game said after coming back against the Packers, despite that not ONE single studio analyst picked the Packers to win decisively, while many had the Seahawks smoking the Packers again like they did in week one.
- Marshawn "He's not like that with us" Lynch can talk to Skittles on National TV for a big payday while leveraging the very media he supposedly finds so useless, but can't be bothered to answer any question intelligently. He's not Ricky Williams, and he doesn't have any mental health disorder. He's just a selfish jerk.
- Richard "two face" Sherman, who gives one of the all time great smack statements after beating the 49ers, who speaks to the media as if they lacked mental capacity on an ongoing basis rephrasing his original statement using the word "mediocre"as if he were somehow misquoted maliciously, who calls out Roger Goodell and league officials with regularity about what he feels are hypocritical actions and ideas yet belittles a reporter who asks him whether he feels he's the best corner in the game (despite his having said this at ear splitting levels on live national TV) as being inept/incompetent.

This coach is simply another facet of an ethos this team is infused with at every tier. They think they're better than everyone and no one can touch them. The sad part is that we had a chance to send them home to evaluate their complex with a short walk to own locker room to diffuse the whole thing and messed the bed and let them continue believing their stuff doesn't smell... Grrr....

 

[ARPackFan]

So why doesn't the Packer's coaching staff see the issues pointed out by the opposition and then act on them? I find that more distressing than anything some d-bag coach or player on another teams says.

 

[HardRightEdge]

I think you could find similar sentiments on this forum prior to the season

I think you can go back to 2011 to see the wheels starting to coming off.

 

[Deleted member 6794]

So why doesn't the Packer's coaching staff see the issues pointed out by the opposition and then act on them?

Well, Capers didn't have a lot of talent to work with at the ILB position this season.

 

[Mondio]

apparently you didn't see the move of OLB Matthews to ILB and Barrington taking over most of the snaps with Hawk and Jones playing sparsely throughout the season. I'm pretty sure our staff saw the issues. You think odds were a draft pick were going to supplant them last year? Ok, who are you giving up, Adams? Linsley? Rodgers? Clinton-Dix? how many of those should we have used on Linebackers last year? Or are you saying that just any old 5th 6th and 7th rounders would have sufficed?

 

[ivo610]

There's a difference between some emotional blowhard fan that takes longer to get from the couch to the fridge Than AJ can run the length of the field talking smack about a player and how fast he is, and a professional coach.

Besides not being blessed with amazing speed, Hawk has given a lot of years and effort to this team and it's fans. I expect a small number of fans to not have any respect for the players or the game, but not an opposing coach. I did have a momentary lapse in judgment though, we are talking about a Seahawk's coach. Humble and classy all the way.

Fans who don't think hawk should be anywhere near the field have more respect for the game than the blind homers who seem to be oblivious to what has been a declining player for some time now

 

[7thFloorRA]

Maybe they are throwing the Pack a bone. So far Seattle has crapped on Hawk and Brad Jones specifically. They are accurate in their statements. Its definitely weird to trash these guys unprovoked but if it keeps the momentum going to get rid of both of them and their bad contracts then I am not going to complain. I hope someone on their staff discusses how easy it is to outcoach Slocum tomorrow. Keep it coming.

 

[Mondio]

and who are the blind homers that are saying Hawk hasn't been declining? I've only been a member here for a couple months, but I can't say I remember a single post in that time where someone said Hawk was at the top of his game, or even close to it.

But I suspect your post was more about excusing your feelings about Hawk, so you can really let him have it It's ok, you're not a professional coach remember? You're already excused

 

[Circa1919]

What he said was the truth, but why rub salt in the wound and pick on a player you just beat? That just doesn't seem classy at all.

This guys' tone...irks me. He should be thankful we blew that game for them rather than shaking his head at one player who isn't the greatest.

 

[PikeBadger]

So why doesn't the Packer's coaching staff see the issues pointed out by the opposition and then act on them? I find that more distressing than anything some d-bag coach or player on another teams says.

What makes you think that they aren't going to address the LB situation in the off season? Free agency doesn't start until March and the draft is in May.

 

[adambr2]

When did Hawk have "it" and what was "it?"

 

[Vrill]

Well, Capers didn't have a lot of talent to work with at the ILB position this season.

And hopefully this gets addressed in FA and the draft. I'd like to see us bring in two new ILB's via the draft or FA. Our defense is a dominant ILB away from being really good.