At this time a year ago, Julian Love was back in New Jersey to face his former team less than a year after signing with the Seahawks in free agency. And in that same Monday night game, Leonard Williams was a key piece of the Giants defense.

A year later, Williams is a Seahawk, having been acquired in a midseason trade, then re-signed to a contract extension this offseason, while Love is thriving in his second season in Seattle after earning Pro-Bowl honors and a contract extension in his short time with his new team.

For both players, Sunday's game against the Giants presents an exciting opportunity, both because it's the next game on the schedule, and also because it will be a chance to reconnect with some former friends and teammates. But what Sunday's game at Lumen Field won't be is any sort of grudge match or revenge game or any other term one might use to make the game bigger than what it is, one of the 17 on this year's Seahawks schedule.

"It's cool, because I know a lot of guys on that sideline—well, I guess less as time goes on—but I don't know, it's another game, kind of," Love said. "But I'm excited just to see some people.

"Not too high, not too low. Obviously, just playing my game, you'll naturally play with a little bit of a chip on your shoulder. It's hard not to, you might fly around with a little extra pep in your step, but these guys stay in control and just work through the process. We've been working all year, and I can't just throw anything out the window just because I'm playing these guys."

Said Williams, "For me, I'm honestly trying to treat it like any other game. I think it would not be good of me to get too high or too low for any specific week, so I'm trying to treat it just like every other opponent, prepare the same way. Then they also have two O-linemen that I remember from when I was there, so that's another reason why I've got to study the same way.

"I'm still excited to play those guys, I still know a lot of those guys on defense, so I'm obviously excited to go out there and play this week at our home against my old team, and obviously I want to make some plays and show out against those guys."

Love and Williams are both captains for Sunday's game, and as veteran leaders on Seattle's defense, they recognize the significance of this game lies not so much in the fact that it's their former team, but in the fact that it's this team's first game of the season coming off a loss, so it will be important for the Seahawks to respond well to some adversity.

"I thought it was a good response," Love said of his team's week so far. "I think we came in and said what it was. It's a defining moment. First time losing with a new staff. Everybody's trying to figure out each other, and you don't really know until you face adversity, so it was good to see it. Everybody was kind of committed to just doubling down and just continuing to work and just working out the process. Results are going to vary. It's such coach speak, but it's really just about getting in, solving problems and continuing."

Added Williams, "We're going to have a short week this week because we played on Monday, and everyone's really excited about getting that bad taste out of our mouth. I feel like we finished the first quarter of the season off well, 3-1, but at the same time, the loss definitely motivates us to get that bad taste out of our mouth, and I'm super excited about it because it's against my old team."