The 2024 NFL season is well underway and the first four weeks of games are in the books. As the calendar flips to October and the weather grows ever-so-slightly chillier, the first bye weeks will appear on the schedule.
For newer fans, a "bye week" is a week off all NFL teams get at some point in the schedule. It means they will not play that week and can use their time off to rest, recover and reset. Bye weeks are spread out between Week 5 and Week 15. So from now until December, each week of games will be missing a few teams.
Here's who will be on bye for Week 5 of the 2024 season.
NFL Teams on Bye in Week 5
There are four teams who will be on bye in Week 5: the Philadelphia Eagles, the Los Angeles Chargers, Detroit Lions, and Tennessee Titans.
The Eagles are coming off a terrible, terrible loss (33-16) to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and seem to be in dire need of this bye week to look themselves in the mirror. Nick Sirianni doesn't have his team prepared, Jalen Hurts is a turnover machine, and the defense collapses at a moment's notice. Perhaps they can take the next week and change to turn some of that around before it's too late. Some injury luck would help, too: DeVonta Smith and A.J. Brown both missed Sunday's contest.
The Chargers have announced themselves as a bit of a surprise by winning two games, but Justin Herbert's sprained ankle is clearly hindering him. This bye comes at a good time in that department. Not just for Herbert but for L.A.'s extremely talented pair of tackles, Rashawn Slater and Joe Alt, who both missed their team's Week 4 17-10 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.
The Titans are not a good team and should probably use this week to decide exactly what kind of bad team they want to be. Will they prioritize getting Will Levis snaps to see if he has something while allowing young talent around him to blossom by trading off veterans, like DeAndre Hopkins? Or will rookie head coach Brian Callahan consider a change under center in an effort to propel the Titans to respectability? This is the week to make those calls.
The Lions are a good team trying to make the jump to a great team. A tricky jump to make, where the improvements mostly lie in the margins. The bye week is a good time for Dan Campbell to fine-tune on both sides of the ball. Jared Goff is still rounding into form, as is playcaller Ben Johnson. Defensively the new-look secondary still has to click and this week could help them to that end; Detroit won't go anywhere if they can't stop the other team.
How Week 5 Byes Affect Fantasy Football
This is a pretty tough bye week in the fantasy department. Three of the four squads feature at least one, if not several, fantasy contributors who are key to winning each week.
Top fantasy players on bye in Week 5
Key Injured Players Who Could Return After Week 5 Bye
As previously mentioned, the Week 5 bye comes at a pretty good time for most of these teams as far as injuries go. Professional football is a rough game and injuries will occur, meaning a full week off could make a pretty big difference in the short- and long-term outcomes for each franchise.
For the Eagles, Brown is recovering from a hamstring injury and hasn't played since Week 2. A full week of recovery will be welcome. Same for Smith, who is still recovering from a concussion suffered on a nasty hit against the Saints.
In Detroit, center Frank Ragnow is a pivotal part of their offensive line and partially tore his pectoral muscle against the Arizona Cardinals in Week 3. While his status is up in the air for the rest of the year offensive linemen are tough individuals. If anything, more clarity on his availability for the long-term could come with further medical evaluation this week.
The Titans are hoping to get Jeffrey Simmons back to 100% after he got banged up in the first few weeks of the season, missing Monday's contest against the Miami Dolphins with an elbow injury. When healthy, Simmons is an absolute game-wrecker so regardless of how far the Titans hope to go this year, it would be great to see him in the middle of the defense.
The Chargers have three key offensive pieces who need to rest up during the bye. Herbert was hobbled by a high ankle sprain against Kansas City. Slater, the starting left tackle, is dealing with a pec injury. Alt, the starting right tackle, is battling a knee injury. On the other side of the ball, Joey Bosa missed Week 4 with a hip injury. This L.A. squad doesn't have the highest of expectations for 2024, but Jim Harbaugh's team will cease to function if most or all of those players are out.
An important bye week for all involved.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as NFL Week 5 Bye Weeks: Every Team Off This Week .
