METAIRIE, La. — When the New Orleans Saints arrived Wednesday for their first practice under interim head coach Darren Rizzi, most of their lockers were in different places.
The warmup routine had been altered. Offensive and defensive players were instructed to wear different color jerseys and run drills on the opposite side of midfield from where they’d conducted that portion of practice all season.
“We want things to feel a little bit different,” said Rizzi, who was promoted Monday after a seven-game losing streak precipitated the firing of third-year coach Dennis Allen.
The decision was made just before the Saints (2-7) host the first-place Atlanta Falcons (6-3) in a matchup of NFC South Division rivals. The Falcons are going for a sweep of the season series after beating New Orleans 26-24 on Sept. 29 at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
“Just a different feel, different vibe,” Rizzi said of his changes at practice. “We had a major change at the top and just want it to feel a little different for everybody and want to keep everybody kind of on their toes and antenna up. That’s the thought process behind it with a lot of things we’re doing.”