After 70 minutes of action against the Giants and 13 weeks straight of NFL football, the upcoming bye week will offer a welcome opportunity for the Washington Commanders to re-charge and reset. For one, the week without a game will give players who are banged up a chance to get some much-needed rest.
"I think the extra time off is gonna help an awful lot," said coach Ron Rivera. "We got a number of guys that are gonna be on the list of our injury updates. I know that this week will be a good rest week for our players, an opportunity for them to take care of themselves, get themselves right, and see what happens as they prepare for this stretch of four games left to go."
In Sunday's game against the Giants, Montez Sweat was evaluated for a concussion, Sam Cosmi was sidelined with an ankle injury and Tyler Larsen reportedly dislocated his knee. Add those knocks to those on the pre-Giants list, which includes, among others, Benjamin St-Juste’s ankle, and one can see why having Week 14 off will have everyone in Ashburn breathing some sighs of relief.
Also, the extra rest days will give the Commanders coaching staff more time to evaluate areas to improve upon that may have been difficult to dig into with the quick turnarounds up until now.
"It's an opportunity to take a look at some of the areas that we have not been as efficient," Rivera said. "Whether it's in some situations, some red zone stuff, some third down stuff perhaps, some short yardage stuff that we can take a really good long look at."
A few of those issues got the wrong kind of spotlight for the Commanders against the Giants. In looking ahead to the biggest game of the regular season for the Burgundy & Gold, the coaching staff will put distinct focus on how to improve against the G-Men on both sides of the ball during the buy.
"We got to be ready for the Giants, and I think that's where a lot of the time will be spent. We'll review a couple things, we'll talk about a few things and then we'll go from there."
Here's a morning roundup of what the local and national media have to say about the Washington Commanders on Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2022. All reports, rumors and conjecture are a reflection of the media conversation and are not endorsed or confirmed by the Washington Commanders.
The reports and deals expressed in this article have not been confirmed by Washington, nor do they reflect any insider information from anyone in the front office.
- The Washington Times' Matthew Paras writes about Rivera's personnel decisions ahead of the bye.
- The Washington Post's Nicki Jhabvala looks at the QB situation, injury updates going into the bye week.
- NBC Sports Washington's Ethan Cadeaux writes about Rivera's excitement around the SNF flex.
- The Washington Post's Sam Fortier writes about the emotions of the Commanders' tie.
- The Washington Post's Scott Allen gives his four takeaways from the Commanders' tie against the Giants.
- The Washington Post's Nicki Jhabvala reports that the Commanders have unfinished business after a tie.
- The Washington Times' Matthew Paras writes about Daniel Jones and his legs hurting the Commanders again.
- The Washington Times' Matthew Paras also gives his take on the Commanders' tie.
- NBC Sports Washington's Ethan Cadeaux writes about the Commanders' thoughts on tying the Giants.
- NBC Sports Washington's JP Finlay gives his stock report on the Commanders' tie.
