Week 5 Thoughts - Right time for a bye

It’s been said, though I don’t know by whom, that the bye week always comes at the right time.

When the Packers’ schedule came out, I, like many people, lamented the Packers’ poor fortunes with their “early” bye. And to be honest, it still might be too early. The Packers will have to play 13 straight weeks of football — more than three months — without a week off. And if they’re not lucky enough to get a bye in the NFC Playoffs, they’ll have to tack on another three weeks of football without a break. 16 straight weeks is quite a gauntlet to run.

But boy, it’s hard to argue the Packers didn’t need this.

The offensive line is in shambles. Free agent prize Aaron Banks has played just 73 snaps across two games. He has yet to finish a game in a Packers uniform. Right tackle Zach tom, himself the recipient of a lucrative contract this offseason, has been even more injured. And Anthony Belton, this spring’s second round pick, has been unable to stay on the field, either, injuring himself in practice ahead of the Cowboys game. Meanwhile, Banks’ fellow free agent signing Nate Hobbs has been as injured as he’s been ineffective. Maybe with some time off he’ll be able to right the ship a little bit.

And we haven’t even talked about Jayden Reed (injured reserve), Christian Watson, Collin Oliver, and John Williams (all on the PUP list). That’s quite a pile of draft capital simply not participating in games at the moment.

I don’t know if we really know anything about the Packers yet, but one thing we do know for sure is we haven’t really gotten the full 20205 Packers experience in a meaningful way. We’ve seen glimpses of the kind of team this team could be, but they haven’t had their best assets on the field long enough to show us much more than that

Hopefully, the bye week will be a step toward health, and toward a clearer picture of who this team actually is.

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