GREEN BAY — When Matt LaFleur was asked Tuesday what his biggest focus was for the team’s earlier-than-they’d-like Week 5 bye, the Green Bay Packers head coach responded with a one-word answer.

“It’s called, ‘Health,’” LaFleur said.

Among the NFL’s most tried-and-true clichés is that the bye week always arrives at just the right time. That’s not really the case here. But since there’s nothing LaFleur can do about it, all he can really hope for is for the respite to help get two of his starting offensive linemen—right tackle Zach Tom (oblique) and left guard Aaron Banks (groin) — back in the lineup. 

“That is the big thing. We’ve got to get these guys’ bodies back [healthy],” LaFleur said during a 24-minute Q&A session with reporters at Lambeau Field on Tuesday afternoon. “We also understand that it’s going to be a long haul after the bye. So you’d better get your mind right to go on that journey and to try to get a little bit better every day.”

A Week 5 bye is the earliest allowed on the NFL schedule, and it means the Packers will play 13 weeks in a row after it’s over. The Packers return to game action on Oct. 12 against the Cincinnati Bengals at Lambeau Field.

The Chicago Bears, Atlanta Falcons and Pittsburgh Steelers also have a bye this week.

This is the second time in LaFleur’s seven seasons as the Packers head coach that the team has had a Week 5 bye. It also happened in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2020, the Packers hit the bye with a 4-0 record. This time, it’s 2-1-1, thanks to Sunday night’s 40-40 tie with the Dallas Cowboys.

“We’ve got to be better,” defensive end Rashan Gary said. “We’ve got to find a way to get better. We’ve got a bye week to get it corrected and get ready for [the next] game.”

LaFleur’s other teams had a Week 11 bye in 2019; a Week 13 bye in 2021; a Week 14 bye (the latest allowed) in 2022; a Week 6 bye in 2023; and a Week 10 bye last year.

It’s unclear whether Tom and Banks will be ready for the Bengals, with LaFleur sidestepping a question about their timelines.

“We’ll see. I don’t know,” he said. “We’re a ways out from that. We’ll have a better indication, I would say, [on] Monday.”

LaFleur did say that defensive tackle Devonte Wyatt, who left the Dallas game with a knee injury and did not return, will be “week-to-week,” meaning he’s not likely to be ready for the Bengals.

Kicker Brandon McManus, who twice had to tackle returners on kickoffs, is OK after moving gingerly after his game-tying field goal at the end of overtime, LaFleur said.

Meanwhile, LaFleur said the team has discussed whether to open the 21-day practice window for wide receiver Christian Watson, who is working his way back from reconstructive surgery on the ACL in his right knee, which he tore during the team’s Jan. 5 regular-season finale

Watson has been ahead of schedule in his rehabilitation from the injury but once the Packers open Watson’s practice window, they’ll have to be ready to activate him by the end of the three-week period.

“That’s been in discussion,” LaFleur said of Watson’s status. “I think we’ve got a couple days [to decide].”

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