As Leonard Williams approached the stage in the team's auditorium for a press conference on Wednesday, the veteran defensive end eschewed the stairs a few feet to his left to make one giant step up onto the stage.

When it was pointed out that there were stairs available, Williams smiled and said, "Through, not around."

That phrase, one of several that Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald uses to define the type of team he's hoping to build in Seattle, wasn't really meant to describe the path that a player takes to his press conference, but it's clear the message is getting through.

In an effort to, borrowing another of Macdonald's favorite mantras, play a style nobody wants to play, the Seahawks are setting out to play a physical, punishing brand of football every time they take the field.

That's why when Macdonald was asked last week how he quantifies toughness, he gave a quick, three-word answer.

"Through, not around."

Macdonald continued, "That is the mindset. It's like, look, 'Are we going to avoid stuff? Are we going to take the easy way out, or are we going to do what's best for the team at all times?' Are we going to go around blocks, are we going to go through blocks? Are we going to run reverses all day or are we going to run our offense? You can take anything—are we going to go through the process every day and do what's necessary for us to become a great football team, or are we going to take easy ways out and find shortcuts and do stuff like that? We want to be going through stuff; we don't want to be avoiding the right things to do at all times."

In Seattle's season-opening loss to the 49ers, they made too many costly mistakes to come away with a victory, but even in that loss, they were proud of the effort they played with, knowing the 49ers would feel the effects of the game.

"The way we were tackling as a defense, I think we made them pay for every yard they got," defensive end Leonard Williams said after the game. "I think they're going to remember that they played us."

On Wednesday, Williams reiterated that point, saying, "I said that after the game and I still feel that way now after watching film that we played a physical game. And that's something that our team is going to take pride in throughout the season is making them hurt and making them know that they played us. We're feeling it too, but it's something that we're accustomed to because that's the way we practice, and that's the way we play every day."

Added defensive tackle Byron Murphy II, "That's what we preach in the D-line, physicality. Hit people and play blocks, we're very big on that. Week in and week out, we want them to say, 'Man, we were in a real football game with those guys. That was a long four quarters.'"

Of course, every team wants to be physical, all 32 teams would state that as a goal, but not all teams can play with the same level of intensity and ferocity every week. Where the Seahawks think they can separate themselves is both in the way they practice, and in the type of people they have in the locker room.

"That's us. That's just what we are, who we are, and how we've been working," said linebacker Ernest Jones IV. "When you play us, we're going to be physical, we're going to attack the ball, we're going to try to do it and play this game the right way. That's how we'll go with it from here.

"That is the difference, doing it versus saying it. We do it, and it's not just on Sunday, we do it on Wednesday, Thursday. I've been in the league five years, two different teams. I didn't get to spend much time with Tennessee, but there's no team that I've been on that works as hard as we work or that grinds each and every day. That shows up on Sunday when we go out there and play."

And this "through, not around" mentality isn't just about defense, the goal is for it to show up in all three phases. The offense didn't play as well as it wanted or run the ball as consistently as it hopes to in Klint Kubiak's new scheme, but again, there was plenty of physical play, plenty of instances of blockers finishing by taking players to the ground, or running backs dishing out hits to would-be tacklers, to show that Macdonald's message is getting through to the team.

"I think it's evident when you turn on the tape," said right tackle Abraham Lucas. "It's something we just continue to do and continue to improve on every week. It's an everyday thing, it's been an everyday thing since camp. It's a good problem when your coaches have to tell you to slow down."