The NFL regular season is long and grueling, a series of 16 separate sprints, as Head Coach John Harbaugh has described it.
The Ravens got a rest from the race last week during their bye. Players were off nearly an entire week and the coaches got four days.
On Monday, they returned for a workout before beginning their normal work week in preparation for the New Orleans Saints on Monday Night Football.
"I think we got away and emotionally recharged, but also physically recharged," Harbaugh said.
"You don't realize how exhausted you are until you get a chance to take a deep breath and relax. Next thing you know, you're like, 'Wow, this has really been helpful.'"
Baltimore has never had a bye week this late in the season under Harbaugh (since 2008). The last late bye was in 2001, when it fell on Week 13.
The Ravens said it came at the "perfect time" as their bodies were banged up. Players such as center Jeremy Zuttah (ankle), wide receiver Michael Campanaro (thigh) and guard Marshal Yanda (knee) got needed rest.
Harbaugh was asked whether this bye felt more well-timed than in the past.
"We had more weeks under our belt, so maybe it did feel more needed [this year]," Harbaugh said.
The Ravens have only lost once coming out of a bye during Harbaugh's reign. It came last year, however, when they fell in Cleveland, 24-18.
Over the past seven years (since 2008), NFL teams are a collective 128-111-3 in games coming off a bye. But the extra rest hasn't been as helpful, statistically speaking, this year. Teams are 10-16 in their first game back this season.
On Sunday, Baltimore's neighbor, the Washington Redskins, lost at home to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 27-7, in their first game after their bye. The Redskins looked sluggish, and Harbaugh was asked about how his team can avoid such a fate.
"Boy, we better not be in that situation," Harbaugh said. "We're going to have a tough environment. We're playing on Monday Night Football, we're playing in New Orleans, they're coming off two losses. They're a very proud team, very well coached, very talented, great quarterback.
"We're going to have our hands full and we better be ready to go. I like to believe that our guys understand that. We'll find out Monday night. I do believe they understand that."
