Alvin Kamara will often walk up to his post-game press conferences without a shirt, his distinctive tape still hanging off the back of his arms after a hard-fought NFL game.
But after a victory over the New England Patriots in Week 3, he went up to speak to the media bundled up, wearing a backpack and hood pulled up under a Texas Rangers hat.
Why the change? Well, for one thing, he was geared up for a long-awaited trip back home.
"I'm ready," Kamara said. "Right after I'm done with y'all I'm gonna go get on the plane."
And while his words didn't echo a deep-seated want and need to get back home after nearly a month away, it was clear that sentiment was running rampant through a locker room that's typically rocking with post-game dance parties, smoke machine and Terron Armstead's BOA blaring in the background.
Priority No. 1 was getting a much-needed win in Week 3, receiver Marquez Callaway said. But as soon as the Saints left the field and headed to the locker room, cheers could be heard of "we're going home! We're going home!"
Callaway was one of the first to relay his return on social media, noting that his apartment was just fine -- but his plant had died during a month away.
"Everybody’s happy to get home," Callaway said. "I’m happy I finally slept in my bed, finally. Just happy to be here.”
Some Saints players fared better than others when they got back to their homes after a month displaced in Texas, largely spent in hotels and sharing TCU's facility in Fort Worth.
The team opted to stay away as long as it did so the players could return home with a minimal number of issues to contend with. After a home game in Jacksonville to start the season, the Saints have played the past two weeks on the road, first against the Carolina Panthers, then the Patriots. Some players returned to damaged apartments and challenges to handle before Week 4, but they have two off days to get things in order before getting back to the NFL grind.
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"We just try to help each other in whatever aspect we can until time comes rolling around where we have to start getting prepared,” Callaway said.
For Callaway, that preparation will be in hopes of building on a bit of a breakout showing in Week 3, leading the team in catches (4), receiving yards (41) and snagging his first career touchdown reception on a jump ball late in the first half at Gillette Stadium.
Callaway kept the ball, a souvenir that will be headed back home with his family in Georgia after an upcoming visit. What happens next to the keepsake will be in the hands of Callaway's parents, who were also responsible for the ill-fated plant the wide receiver was reporting on after his return. Callaway couldn't remember what the plant was, it was sent by his mother to decorate his apartment when he first signed in New Orleans, despite his specific request for fake plants, he said.
If Callaway's has his way, he'll have plenty of more souvenirs to redecorate with, even if he chooses not to restock on his apartment foliage.
"Many more to come," he said.
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