Seahawks definitely need this bye week
The bye week couldn’t have come at a better time for the Seattle Seahawks. The banged up roster will be able to get healthy and ready to go on a run to the playoffs.
The Seattle Seahawks enter their bye week on a high note. The dismantled the New York Jets on the road in a game wasn’t as close as the 27-17 scores suggests. Now they get a desperately-needed wee off to try and get healthy.
Seattle’s list of walking wounded is extensive. Many of the guys who are playing are playing through significant injuries.
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We all saw what Russell Wilson did on Sunday despite having two bad wheels. That sprained ankle and sprained knee are a big deal, and he still lit up the Jets defense for 3 touchdowns and over 300 yards.
Now Wilson get’s two weeks to heal. He won’t be fully healthy after the bye, but he’ll be dealing with significantly less pain. He’ll be less restricted in his movements, and he’ll have a better throwing-base when he lets the ball fly.
Wilson’s receiving options are banged up as well. Tyler Lockett has be playing with a sprained PCL in his knee. Doug Baldwin and Jimmy Graham have been dealing with knee issues as well. That’s Wilson’s top three targets that are all hobbled.
The rest of the offense hasn’t been immune to the injury bug either. RG Germain Ifedi returned from an ankle sprain this week. Blocking TE Nick Vannett was has been out all season, but will be back before the bye week is complete.
Also in the injury mix are starting RB Thomas Rawls, who has a cracked bone in his leg. Third-down back CJ Procise has a fractured bone in his hand. Procise has a shot at returning by Week 6, but no matter what, the bye means one less game missed for those two than they would have missed otherwise.
Defensively, the Seahawks lost a big (both literally and figuratively) piece of their defensive line last week. The extent of Jarran Reed’s hip injury is unknown still, but it did cause him to miss Sunday’s game in New York.
Cliff Avril and Mike Morgan are also nicked up with minor injuries. There are likely many others with nagging aches and pains that simply haven’t shown up on the injury report yet.
When the schedule came out, the Week 5 bye was not what fans and players were hoping to see. Early bye weeks are typically not welcome because they come when the team is still fresh. Teams want that break later in the year so they can rest up for the stretch run.
It turns out that the early bye week is going to be a blessing in disguise for the Seattle Seahawks. They’re winning despite being beat up, and a healthy Seahawks team in Week 6 should scare the hell out of the rest of the NFL.