It certainly is entertaining to watch what a week of R&R can do to a team. After an entire week off, the Washington Redskins beat down the Detroit Lions in spectacular fashion Sunday.

Ask any player and I guarantee they will tell you how important this bye week is to them. When the schedule would come out, I didn’t check and see if we played on Monday night, or when we went to Dallas. I wanted to know when that one glorious weekend off was.

Players in this league are ridden like Kentucky Derby horses in camp and throughout the season. They play tired, hurt, and they have nothing left to give come Sunday night — only to do it all over again the next weekend. Calling it a grind is a major understatement — because after all, for as much as these players resemble modern day gladiators, they are only human. Even the best players in the world need an occasional break.

Some guys stay in town, while others jet set off to desirable locations for the weekend. In all honesty, it doesn’t matter what you do. As long as you aren’t in meetings, watching film or doing a redundant walk-through, it doesn’t matter where you are. For one week, you distance yourself from football. You need a week to refuel, evaluate your play, and live an ordinary life. Spend time with your family, catch up with friends, watch college ball, drink a couple of beers on a Sunday or even change diapers. Injuries suddenly heal at rapid pace, your mind becomes clearer and you actually start to miss the football complex. You return refreshed, ready to win, — and win big. Your confidence is restored both personally and at the team level.

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That first Monday when you come back feels like the first day of school, full of possibilities and playoff dreams. You are ready to work.

After the Giants game I was right there with those who raised an eyebrow when Joe Gibbs gave the team the entire week off. This isn’t common practice, but I admit, it made me want to play for that man. Not that he would take a 30-year-old graduate student back into the lineup, but it was the thought that counted.

Former Redskins safety Matt Bowen, a seven-year NFL veteran, contributes a weekly column to The Examiner during the NFL season.