The Seahawks head to Nashville this weekend as a team that not only has playoff hopes, but as one that looks capable of doing damage when they get to the postseason.

And one reason why the Seahawks are, both according to the numbers and the pundits, one of the league's elite teams is the last trip the team made to Nashville.

In the early stages of Mike Macdonald's tenure as Seattle's head coach, the Seahawks packed up their training camp operation last August and went to Nashville ahead of their preseason contest against the Titans, a trip that included a pair of joint practices, as well as plenty of opportunities for team bonding. And while Macdonald liked the work his team got in that week on the practice field, it was what took place in the down time on that trip that had the bigger long-term effect on the team.

"Now it feels like forever ago, but that was a great trip," Macdonald said this week. "That was one of the things that—getting feedback from the guys and lot of other people in the organization—was really critical for our team coming together last year, and it provided a little bit of a blueprint for us on what we needed to be able to do to become tough and connected going into this offseason."

That trip to Nashville included a team dinner involving players, coaches and staff that was a big hit with players, complete with a rookie talent show. There was also enough downtime built into he schedule for players to enjoy some unscripted free time together, so in addition to sweating through the Tennessee heat on the practice field, defensive backs like Julian Love, Riq Woolen, Coby Bryant, Devon Witherspoon and former Seahawk Tre Brown could also walk to Hattie B's Hot Chicken to experience a different kind of heat, standing in the long midday line with the rest the hungry patrons who were unaware they were hanging out with multiple Pro Bowlers.

"That trip was important," Love said. "I feel like, at that point and time, we didn't really know what the vibe was, fully. From Mike, from staff, from the culture, how we were shifting, everything was just so new at that time. We were two or three weeks into camp, and that trip opened guys up to, 'OK, that was very cool.' Mike did the schedule in a way that we could all get close, he was very loose in terms of the days' structure so we could all hang out with each other, which not every coach does.

"It was a starting point to realizing, OK, this could be pretty fun."

What the team started to build in Nashville that week has carried over to this year's team, and is a big part of why so many players this season have talked about the players' togetherness and closeness as a big reason for the team's success.

"That kicked it off," Love said. "We still talk about some of the stories from that week. It was fun, we were all hanging out, it was a good time. Especially at that point in camp, it was a release, so it was memorable because of that."

One of the things Macdonald seeks from his players is the ability to be both loose and focused; it's a phrase you often hear repeated by players. And for as much work as the team puts in at practice and in meetings, the loose part is built through time the players spend away from their usual football activities. That can come in the form of a team dinner in Nashville last summer or Green Bay this August, or a surprise trip to Top Golf replacing a day of offseason workouts, or just in the banter the players have going on in the locker room. And that team dinner at Martin's Bar-B-Que Joint in Nashville helped Macdonald understand the balance he needed to find with his team.

"From my perspective, it's, hey, the football is incredibly important. We're going to maximize the time allotted to the best of our ability so we can—we like practicing, we like getting a lot of reps, all those things are important," Macdonald said. "But there is a time and place where you don't have to be on the practice field to make your team better. It was a great experience, guys had a great time. It was great for it. It'll be good to be back."

And players notice when coaches figure out that mix of hard work and fun in a way that allows players to thrive and enjoy their jobs at the same time.

"One of our key phrases is loose and focused, and if you build a culture of just hammering a wall all day, that doesn't create a loose and focused environment," Love said. "You've got to throw us a bone every now and then. So yeah, those events, Top Golf, team dinners, all that kind of fun stuff that he promotes, it creates buy in, like, 'OK, he believes in the loose and focused culture.' On top of that, obviously he's the catalyst for allowing it, but it's also the people we have in this building. The players themselves are a ton of big kids, but when it's lock in and feel a certain way, they do, and pretty much any other time, we're just constantly messing around with each other, so it's a pretty cool vibe."

For Love, that ability to balance being big kids when the moment calls for fun—they are playing a sport for a living, after all—with the ability to lock in and focus when the job demands it is a big factor in the Seahawks playing the way they are this season.

"This team now is extremely close," he said. "It's uncomfortable how close we are—the constant roasting, the constant messing around. Literally I was just talking to one of our coaches out there today, and said that, pretty much this is middle school, and when we go out there it's recess. In the locker room, it's just messing around in the hallways. That's the kind of energy we bring, but then obviously when it's time to focus, we focus."

For decades, the Seahawks did not take part in joint practices. Neither Mike Holmgren nor Pete Carroll did them, and there are valid reasons not to. There are logistical challenges, particularly for the league's most geographically isolated team, and coaches have less control when another team is involved. And of course, there are the inevitable skirmishes that tend to break out when tempers flare. But there is also a lot of value in getting quality work in against an opponent, as well as in the team bonding that can take place on the road, especially when, in the case of the Seahawks last year, that team is building something new under a new head coach and coaching staff.

"From my experience, I just love joint camps," defensive end Leonard Williams said. "I think it's one of the best times. Your team has a chance to grow with connection, especially on an away trip like that. We're all we got, and we're in enemy territory, competing against another team and in another team's facilities. You could just feel the energy of people just coming closer together. We did it again this year and it felt the same way."

Said outside linebacker Uchenna Nwosu, "It was really important. We were able to spend time together and jell together as a team. It was good for team building for sure. Especially being a first-time head coach, we got to see what he was about, see how he acts so he can get used to the rest of us. It's definitely all connected (to this year's play).

"It helps the team a lot. We're able to look back on those moments and lean on each other when things don't go according to plan on the field, we look back to the time we spent together and how we all know each other, and the bond we built. It's easier to talk to each other when things aren't going well or correct each other, hold each other accountable, whatever it may, it's a lot easier because we built that bond before."