Az-Zahir Hakim's Super guarantee was one of the few shots fired this week.

All of the film study and extra work that needs to be done has come to an end. The players have an idea of what they want to do, and they begin thinking about their individual performances. What do they need to do for the team to be successful? What areas do they need to focus on?

The players must make sure they get the right amount of rest. Every athlete is different. One might require eight hours of sleep, while another may require five or six. Each player will settle into his own routine.

Friday is the last night the players will go out for hopefully a relaxing dinner with their families. It's the night about which the players have to be the most careful because it is the bridge night between the weekly preparation and the game situation.

The players need to make sure everything is set with their family, and then relax. They don't get exposed to a lot of the nightlife, so there should be very few players out on the streets. If they are, I doubt if you will see them in a club somewhere susceptible to a problem. We haven't heard anything all week, and I'd be shocked if we did after this.

The players usually will go to a restaurant and let the restaurant know they are coming. This is the one time they can really throw their names around. They can call and say, "I am coming in and have a party of eight. I'd like a table at 8 p.m. and would like one in a back corner of the room if I can get it."

A player can be with his family, and the restaurant should provide adequate security for them. Players like Kurt Warner or Eddie George might have to do something like that. Some players might not be brash enough to call and ask for a private table. But you learn after awhile that it's the right decision. If they don't make arrangements ahead of time, they could be publicly besieged.

Back in their rooms, the players have been watching the interviews, hearing what their teammates are saying, and what the other team is saying. They are listening to what coaches say. The coaches tell them in meetings to be careful what they say. One thing the players must be aware of is that everyone has a deal for you, or a little piece of information. That can create a problem and a distraction for a team, like last year with the Falcons' Eugene Robinson. It takes a lot of unnecessary energy to deal with a problem like that.

When I was at the Super Bowl with the Redskins, we were a distraction from the beginning. At my first Super Bowl, our linebackers came off the plane in battle fatigues when we arrived in Pasadena. On Wednesday, our receivers -- "The Smurfs" -- were at a theme park getting their pictures taken with the "real" Smurfs. On Friday night, John Riggins was dressed in a white tuxedo with tails and a top hat at a party. I probably did more interviews than I have done this week, so my face was splattered all over the place. Our offensive linemen -- "The Hogs" -- were marketing things like posters. We were one big distraction, but that was the way we operated.

As long as it didn't affect the practices, coach Joe Gibbs didn't mind. The coaches must understand that the players have to be themselves. If the practices are sharp and crisp, and the players' assignments are good, then whatever they do off the field is working. One thing Dick Vermeil learned from his previous Super Bowl experience is that he was too intense and too uptight. It's most important the players are as relaxed as possible Sunday.

It has been unusually quiet in Atlanta. The only thing I have heard was Rams receiver Az-Zahir Hakim guaranteeing a victory. I watched the interview. He thought about the question and said, "Yeah, we're going to win. I believe in my ability and in my teammates." But what guy doesn't? It's nice to have someone who has the guts to say it, though. These two teams aren't made up of loud, outspoken players. Maybe next year, if either of the two teams return to the Super Bowl, the players will loosen up more.

It's good the teams got to practice in the Georgia Dome on Friday because the conditions outside do not really give the Rams and the Titans a chance to feel what the field will be like Sunday. The NFL made an excellent decision allowing them to get a feel for the footing, the atmosphere and the temperature. The players must get used to picking their feet up more. On grass, a player can drag his feet a little; on turf, if he drags his feet, he might fall on his face.

That's a concern I have for Tennessee. In Indianapolis, the Titans didn't look comfortable on turf. It's good for Steve McNair to test his injured toe on the artificial surface. Practicing at the dome, however, could backfire and become a problem. His toe is feeling better, but one little jam into the turf could make it bad all over again. On grass, the foot slides inside the shoe as well as it does on the ground. On turf, the foot just stops. AstroTurf was the worst thing ever invented for football. The joints, ankles and knees aren't built to stop that quickly.

In practice today, the coaches installed their red-zone offense. The reason why the red-zone offense is saved until late in the week is that only about 10 plays in the entire game plan are devoted to the red area. If a team can get in the red area 10 times, they need to produce points each time. The teams need 10 plays they feel good about. It doesn't take long to implement the plays, which is why they don't need to be practiced until Friday.

In addition, the coaches will install the special plays -- reverses, reverse passes, and shovel passes. They would be written into the coaches' game plan all week, but the players wouldn't be exposed to the special plays until Friday.