RENTON, Wash. -- Before giving the Seahawks a much deserved week off, coach Pete Carroll had a message for the players: Relax, have some fun, but most importantly, be responsible in what you do and how you act.

“That includes being conscious that they're Seahawks,” Carroll said. “Take advantage of that and have great awareness that they represent wherever they go in what they're doing. It was a pretty strong message.

“We don't want any issues coming off of this week. I want everybody to handle it very well. In a lot of areas, we stayed on them and were very precise about how they want to handle this week.”

You couldn't draw it up much better than this for the Seahawks. They reached the late bye week at 10-1 and have a chance at a special season. Carroll just wants all the players to stay focused on the journey ahead.

“It's really important for us to realize the truth of where we are and what's happened,” Carroll said. “It's clear that we've done well. We're in good shape right now.”

And Carroll wants each player to stay in shape (physically) during the break.

“We want our guys to get their workouts during this week,” he said. “We're encouraging everybody to do all of the things to take care of their bodies and to eat well and sleep right so that when we come back, we don't have any issues.

“If guys go out and gain 6 or 8 pounds, then they got to lose 6 or 8 pounds in game week. So I'm more concerned about that than anything, because I want it to be a regular week of preparation [for the Monday night game against New Orleans on Dec. 2] and I don't want to have distractions.”