While 12 NFL teams battle it out in the wild card round of the playoffs, the Seahawks will be able to relax this weekend, waiting to see which team is coming to Lumen Field the following weekend for the divisional round.

That's the reward they earned by going 14-3 to win the NFC West and earning the conference's top seed. But while the Seahawks will enjoy some downtime this weekend thanks to their regular-season success, they spent the week leading up to it treating it much like a normal work week, albeit without an opponent to game plan for.

"I appreciate the way the guys are going about it," said defensive tackle Leonard Williams. "We're not treating it like a regular season bye week where guys are flying to Mexico and Hawai'i and enjoying their time. I think we really celebrated that win against the Niners, but immediately that next day you could tell guys were like, hey, the job is not done. We got a lot of work to do. That's still the same mindset right now. Guys are going to take a few days away, mentally, physically take care of their bodies, but I think we're all focused right now."

That work week included a rainy Wednesday practice that Williams described as "a pretty competitive practice."

"The guys were going at it," he said. "That's a testament to our team. It would be easy to go out there and be lackadaisical and relax and chill on a bye week, but guys are out there competing and trying to find ways to get better. That's what's been getting us here."

That approach lines up with the one Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald has been preaching all season. The approach that helped them build success in OTAs and training camp is the same one they used every week on their way to a 14-3 record in the regular season, and it's the same one they expect to help them win games in the postseason.

"Part of our message to our guys is, I know we're going to the playoffs, but nothing changes in terms of our preparation, our mentality," Macdonald said. "It's the same thing that circumstances around the game people are going to be talking about, but for us, the things that we need to be able to do to be able to have success is going to stay the same."

One thing that was different during a bye week was what the Seahawks were actually practicing. Without an opponent to gameplan for, practices were geared more towards competing against each other and toward fine-tuning any parts of their game that needs improvement.

"Guys are still getting after it," tight end AJ Barner said. "I think it's more competitive between the offense and defense, because we're not preparing for a team per se. But just going up against each other, you hear Spoon (Devon Witherspoon) talking, EJ (Ernest Jones IV), D-Hall (Derick Hall) talking. We're kind of playing them this week, so you want to compete with them."

Veteran receiver Cooper Kupp, one of the few players on the team with significant playoff experience, likes how he saw his teammates approach the week.

"It's been a real cool just understanding globally in this building, we're still on a mission," Kupp said. "We have a mission in front of us, and we're attacking it. Even though we don't know who that is, who is going to be put down in front of us yet, we know we're going to handle this week with an intention, with an understanding that we're still under construction. We're still working towards something. The attitude and the effort for the last couple of days, the focus that was in this room out in the walkthroughs and out there on the practice field speaks about the guys that we have here. Everyone is excited about this opportunity. We're going to take these next few days and recover and come back ready to go."

Kupp added that the most important thing during by week practices is "the growth. You continue to grow. This isn't a week off. It's an opportunity to hone in to some stuff, to dive in deeper, to self-scout yourself and look at some things that you can do better as units, but also individually. How can we be better? How can you set yourself up going into next week to be a better football player and set yourself up to be able to attack that next week?"

The Seahawks won't know until Saturday or Sunday who they will play between the Rams, Panthers, 49ers or Packers, but when they do have an opponent, they'll get to work next week operating as if it's just the next game on their schedule, because it is.

"We take it as any other game," said cornerback Devon Witherspoon. "It's just another game on the year. We didn't come this far just to come this far, so we're taking every game serious."