It's the small things that appear to have juiced Alvin Kamara since Darren Rizzi was named interim head coach of the New Orleans Saints on Monday.
Each position group has a turn to pick that day's music playlist for practice (Wednesday was the defensive line, Thursday was the offensive line). Players in each position group are in lockers next to one another (the defensive line has sectioned off its corner, with a club-style bouncer – defensive tackle Bryan Breese took a turn Thursday – guarding the entrance).
Players have been urged to sit next to a teammate they don't know during team meetings. And this:
"Rizz don't want nobody on the ground at practice, and you see somebody go down and he gets right in their face," Kamara said. "That just hasn't been a thing. He's going to hold you accountable. He's hard on everybody, but he loves you at the same time. He's setting a certain standard and he wants that standard met and really surpassed, honestly."
The Saints (2-7) will see Sunday if the tweaks and adjustments take in real time, when they play Atlanta (6-3) in the Caesars Superdome.
"We're working but we're making it fun," said Kamara, who will enter the game 12 yards short of setting a franchise all-time record for rushing yards. He's at 6,489; Mark Ingram totaled 6,500 in his Saints career.
Kamara called Rizzi a "phenomenal coach" after having seen Rizzi's work for the past six seasons.
"I don't play too many special teams but I know the way he coaches, those guys grasp it," Kamara said. "You see it in the unit – the type of person he is, the type of coach he is, it kind of bleeds over into what product goes out on the field as far as special teams.
"So as far as leading the team, not just the relationship with me, but he's got a relationship with everybody on this team. I'll stand on saying that. If you ask every person in this locker room about Rizz they'll have something, from the last guy to the top guy. He's a leader.
"You can already feel it out at practice, you can feel it in the locker room, you can feel it in the building. It's the middle of the season, but I think it's a good change. It's unfortunate that you get a firing in the middle of the season, but I think Rizz is up for the task."
Rizzi said that he would be an accountability coach, and Kamara echoed his belief in that.
"Outside of the person Rizz, I think the coach Rizz is just that – detailed, he has pride in the product that goes out there," Kamara said. "Accountability is one of his biggest things.
"One-eleventh, he's bringing that to a team sense but his unit, special teams, that's what they preach, 1/11th. If one person out of those 11 people isn't doing their job, then we ain't got nothing. So everybody's job is as important as the next guy. That's accountability in itself.
"He's kind of bringing that same vibe throughout the whole team. The vibe in practice is switching. Guys are being held accountable for the little things. Hopefully on Sunday, we'll see some of that. It's just a couple of days, but I think it's in the front of everybody's mind to be accountable and be able to do the little things right."
