high shot on Watene-Zelezniak in the first half despite not being p

The first thing most players look for when the NFL schedule comes out is the bye week. The opponents? The prime-time games? That stuff can wait. Man, tell us when we get a break. One thing to realize: NFL players are not robots and the grind of the season is real, so guys cherish their time away.Jump on a plane and get out of town -- even if only for a day or two. A weekend trip to Manhattan is nice. So are college football tailgates. And you should always try to get back home to see Mom. Grab one of those home-cooked meals and drink a beer with the old man, too.Thats really all it takes for NFL players to feel normal again.The physical toll of the game is one thing. We all understand football is going to beat you up, and everyone is hurt this time of the year. So the bye week allows players to grab some extra treatment and take a Sunday off.But what Ive always felt, and experienced as a player during my travels around the league to four different cities, is that the mental break is even more important.People forget: A lot more goes into playing this game than what you see on Sundays. Theres a new playbook install to ingrain ... every week. New scouting reports to study ... every week. New film to digest ... every week. New personnel packages to run through ... every week. New call sheets to draw up ... every week.And then you add in the meetings and the practices and the walk-throughs and the lifting and the treatment. Like I said, its a grind. By the time midseason rolls around, players almost become robotic.And when rookies hit the wall come mid-November, its more of a mental thing than a physical thing. These young cats can run all day. They arent beat up like eight-year vets yet. Heck, most of these guys are still built like rubber bands. But some arent used to the demands of the job when it comes to the prep time, the game planning or the film study. That can be a major adjustment from the college game. And by this time of the season, that mental exhaustion starts to take its toll.But even for the vets, the players who attack this daily routine like true pros, the time off is a beautiful thing. And it doesnt have to be some wild vacation.For me, it was back to Iowa a couple of times on the bye week. Watch the Hawkeyes, drink some Busch Light, see old college teammates. I loved it. And I needed it. The same when I got older in the league. Back home to Chicago, over to New York, whatever.Hey, take a two-day trip with your wife. Go watch the kids play a rec soccer game. Get to a warmer locale. Maybe a weekend in Miami for the young guys.Really, its not so much about what you do during the bye week, but what you dont do. 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Penrith have all but secured a place in this years NRL finals series, and ended the Wests Tigers late-season charge, with a 40-10 thrashing at Pepper Stadium.Against a Tigers side missing star James Tedesco, the Panthers on Friday night notched a third straight win, second-biggest over the Tigers and their highest score of the year.In front of 14,876 fans, their second-best crowd of the season, seven different Panthers made it onto the scoresheet, including a highlight reel-worthy full-field effort to Waqa Blake in the first half.Rising star Nathan Cleary also set up two tries and kicked six goals from seven attempts, while causing plenty of trouble for back-up fullback Jordan Rankin with pinpoint bombs.The win cements seventh spot on the ladder and keeps Penrith within striking distance of hosting an elimination final, while the Tigers will be left to rue a slow start to their 2016 campaign.The defeat was compounded by a possible knee injury to Chris Lawrence, who collided legs with Josh Mansour midway through the second half and failed to return.The home side conceded first points when Mitchell Moses broke through and found a flying Josh Addo-Carr to claim his fifth try in just seven NRL appearances.However, the Panthers quickly hit back through Blake, and then poured on the points through Bryce Cartwright (18th minute), Isaah Yeo (24th), Reagan Campbell-Gillard (29th) and Peter Wallace (39th).Blake scored after a 60-metre break by Dallin Watene-Zelezniak, who took a pass from Matt Moylan in front of his own posts and then burned Tim Simona to surge downfield.By halftime, the Tigers had missed 30 tackles to Penriths eight, given up 64 per cent possession and were on the wrong end of a 28-4 deficit.ddddddddddddThe Panthers momentum failed to halt after the break, with Trent Merrin and James Fisher-Harris crossing inside the hour mark to put the result beyond the Tigers reach.Moses, who was arguably the Tigers best, scored a consolation try in the 63rd minute. Tigers prop Tim Grant could find himself in trouble for a high shot on Watene-Zelezniak in the first half despite not being placed on report.Penrith coach Anthony Griffin was happier with his teams defence than their attack, particularly in the second half, to keep the Tigers to just 10 points.Even though we had the game in hand, our defensive effort was the closest to an 80-minute one that weve had. Were learning, he said.A few weeks ago we mightve lost control of that last 20 minutes, even though it got a bit scrappy. We had composure with the ball and defensively as well.Tigers coach Jason Taylor said his players were distraught.Weve got a really shattered group of players in the rooms. Some inconsolable, to be honest. Such a disappointing performance, he said.Taylor was also at a loss to explain why they gave up so many points in the first half.The start itself was fine, but then we just took some short cuts. The only thing I can put that down to was just a lack of energy that was required to go with Penrith in the first half, he said.We just dont do that any more. We got that stuff out of our game and its been great to watch. But it came back tonight. It was really disappointing. ' ' '