As the rest of the NFL battled it out on Sunday, the Seattle Seahawks enjoyed some good ol' R&R.
If Week 5 seems like an early time for a bye, that's because it is. The Seahawks were one of four teams to have their bye at the earliest possible date, joining the Cleveland Browns, Los Angeles Chargers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
For Seattle specifically, though, having such an early bye isn't necessarily a negative. No player feels that more than linebacker Jordyn Brooks, who is enjoying the time off after undergoing knee surgery to repair a torn ACL in the offseason.
“Yeah, it’s a weird time for a bye. For me, personally? I don’t mind it…I get one week off this (surgically reconstructed) knee. Get some rest and rehabbing,”Brooks said via the Tacoma News Tribune. “Hey, we’ll take the bye — then we’ve got to go down the stretch.”
Brooks is enjoying the extra time to heal, but for many other Seahawks, the time off is absolutely necessary. After Week 4's win over the New York Giants, Seattle is dealing with a plethora of injuries across the roster. The list of Seahawks who are ailing include some very important players, such as quarterback Geno Smith, safety Jamal Adams and offensive tackle Charles Cross.
Meanwhile, Seahawks coach Pete Carroll is taking the time to get some more work in with the youngsters on the roster, of which there are many.
“It’s a good time for us to come back with new perspective for the young guys, where we can kind of go back to talking about what they’ve accomplished and how far they’ve come along,” Carroll said. “Really, to me, there’s so much focus on those guys and their ability to contribute as we move forward. I think this is a really good stopping point for us in that regard.
“It’s so important for us to get those guys where they’re part of it. And it’ll be such a factor to us once we get to the midpoint of the season, hitting the second half.”
The Seahawks return to action when they travel to face the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday, their first of 13 games with no break to close the season.
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