Austin Ekeler walks G&D through the anatomy of a bye week
For Austin Ekeler, life right now is just getting healthy from his concussion, and using his IR stint to rest and try to get back to 100 percent as soon as possible – but for his teammates, this past week’s bye was their one chance to rest, reset, and prep for the stretch run.
“Bye week was definitely needed. It’s always a nice disconnect even if it's early or late, just because you’ve been grinding through training camp, OTAs, all offseason and starting to get into the season as well,” Ekeler told Grant & Danny Tuesday. “As you can imagine all of that kind of piles up. But I was around the guys and I know they're feeling fresh and ready to go and got nice rejuvenated spirits, so looking forward to these last couple weeks.”
But after three or four months of grinding, what exactly goes into a bye week for players?
“For me, it's definitely disconnect from football, just get the mind away from it, because when you lock in on football for as long as we do, it kinda consumes you, which is appropriate because that's our job, but it's a highly stressful impact because we gotta be on our Ps and Qs,” Ekeler said. “So during the bye, kind of disconnect, there's a lot of hanging out with family. I didn't travel at all this time because I was doing a little bit of treatment at the facility so that still goes on, can't forget about the body, but I know a lot of guys went home or things like that. For myself, I kind of get time to work on the things that I need to catch up on outside of football, which as you guys know, I have a lot.”
The Commanders haven’t won a playoff game since 2005 and have only been there once in the last decade, but Ekeler has some postseason experience, and down the stretch, he’s looking forward to, along with the other vets who have been there, prepping the team for January football – and making sure they stay focused on the task of getting there.
“For us, it’s definitely continue to take it one game at a time. We understand we're in a position to be playing meaningful football here at the end of the season, and as a veteran, that’s definitely great for the spirit in the room and the fan base,” Ekeler said. “But we still have four games left, so we still have to go out here and perform. There’s no guarantees we get a spot, and even if we did, you wanna make sure that you're continuing to kind of sharpen your tools as you get ready here during the end of the season, because this is where you should be playing at your best. This is where we've had the most time to play together, and we know who we are, what we can do, and our capabilities where we're good at. But, football can take a weird turn. It feels amazing to be like, hey, all the work we’ve put in has given us a chance to pay off to make a playoff run, but there’s a lot of stepping stones and micro goals we have to pass along the way to get there.”
Take a listen to Ekeler’s entire visit above, as he also goes into what it will take to get things on track, the team’s injuries piling up, and more!
