Darren Rizzi hit the ground on a dead sprint when he was named interim head coach of the New Orleans Saints.
There wasn't a bye week or extended weekend following a Thursday night game to collect thoughts, calm the heart rate, pay attention to all the congratulatory calls and texts that surely drowned his phone.
So when the Saints' bye week finally did arrive after his first two weeks as interim head coach – 11 weeks into the season – Rizzi surely must have decompressed a little bit.
Right?
"I traveled a little bit," he said. "Got to see my son play a high school football game; my son, Cameron, played his last high school football game in Florida, so that was pretty cool.
"I got to see my son, Christian, at the University of Texas for Senior Day, which was miraculous that I could make it there; I've only been able to go to three games in four years.
"I got a chance to watch my daughter, Alex, coach high school basketball for a minute down in Florida as well, so that was pretty neat. That was the exhale part. I got to travel around and see those guys, which was great. That part was cool. And just kind of press the reset button. When you're in the middle of the season like this and it's kind of full throttle, you don't get a chance to exhale."
And so, when the Saints (4-7) returned to the practice field Tuesday in preparation for Sunday's 3:05 p.m. game against the Rams (5-6) at the Caesars Superdome, Rizzi and Saints players attacked work much the same way as they have the previous two game weeks.
The Saints broke a seven-game losing streak and won back-to-back games for the first time since the opening two weeks of the season, and the Rams are coming off a 37-20 home loss to Philadelphia on Sunday night.
"One thing I've probably been the most proud of is the guys have done a phenomenal job of keeping the focus on that particular game," Rizzi said. "It's easy to get caught up in all the stuff that's been going on between the coaching change and all the changes going on.
"In my opinion, the biggest reason we've won the last two games is that the guys focused on the preparation – we had two really good preparation weeks. And the focus was just on being 1-0.
"Just keeping the focus on right now, the Rams, this game and not trying to get caught up in the big picture stuff. It's easy to get wrapped up in everything else, so bringing the guys back in today, getting started early in the week, I thought it was great getting work done and just keeping the focus on the Rams."
The macro is this: New Orleans is a game behind second-place Tampa Bay, and two games behind first-place Atlanta, in the NFC South Division standings.
The micro is this: If the Saints don't handle their own part of the equation, no amount of scoreboard-watching matters.
"We're stressing that all the reasons why we've done well the last two games is keep the focus on that," Rizzi said. "Great enthusiasm today in the locker room, great enthusiasm today in practice, I haven't seen any change. I thought today was one of our better practices that we've had, so I'm very pleased with the way it's going. We've got to keep that going."
UNOFFICIAL IR: The Saints were not required to release a practice report Tuesday, but center Erik McCoy (groin) did not participate in the open portion of practice, while running back Jamaal Williams did participate.
Receiver Chris Olave was present; he still is gathering information as he determines his path this season, and perhaps the rest of his career, after suffering his fourth concussion in three NFL seasons earlier this year.
