Saints, Rams both deal with distractions

ST. LOUIS -- The New Orleans Saints, displaced by Hurricane Katrina, and the St. Louis Rams, minus Mike Martz and now Marc Bulger, have more in common than 2-4 records.

Today's game is the battle of the have-nots, one team missing its home, the other without its head coach and quarterback. Both teams are struggling to deal with the distractions.

The Saints have additional issues, including high-profile front-office changes that may affect the team's future in New Orleans. Plus, they can't practice the next three weeks in the Alamodome in San Antonio, their temporary and perhaps future home, because of a home builders convention.

"You just live day to day," Saints coach Jim Haslett said. "You don't know what's going to happen. I commend our players. They just roll with the punches. It's something every day."

Gameday, win or lose, has been the best day of the week for the Saints.

"For a long time, we were just numb," said Saints tight end Ernie Conwell, a former Rams player. "At the same time, our hearts were breaking for the people of New Orleans. I don't want to say we were going through the motions, but football was therapeutic for us."

The Rams will be without Martz, hospitalized with a bacterial infection of a heart valve, for the second week. Assistant head coach Joe Vitt, also the linebackers coach, is in charge until the 54-year-old Martz returns, and his first game was the Rams' third straight loss.

Bulger, expected to be sidelined with a sprained shoulder joint until after the Nov. 6 bye week, also is a very big loss. He's listed as questionable, although he had a cortisone injection on Wednesday in hopes of speeding the recovery period, and said an MRI exam indicated it wasn't as serious as a separation sustained last season.

"I don't think it's good for this weekend," Bulger said. "I want to come back as soon as possible and obviously the bye week will help."

Bulger's absence leaves veteran Jamie Martin to make his fourth career start. Martin was 17-for-21 for 134 yards with one touchdown, but also threw two crucial interceptions in a 45-28 loss at Indianapolis on Monday. He believes taking the bulk of the reps in a short practice week will help, even though the Rams likely will be without wide receiver Isaac Bruce (turf toe) for the fourth straight game.

"As a backup you're always kind of uncertain whether you really know what's going on," Martin said. "It's kind of learned on paper. When you're able to do it throughout week, you have a little more confidence in the things you are seeing and the things you are trying to do."

The Rams took a 17-point lead against the Colts on Monday, and the cushion evaporated quickly after Bulger left. Now they're facing a team that has won the last three meetings in St. Louis, where the Rams are an NFL-best 40-9 since 1999 but also fell in their last home game 37-31 to the Seahawks on Oct. 9.

"You've got to understand, you have to clear losses no matter how painful they are, because next week is looming," Rams running back Steven Jackson said. "If you bring that baggage along with you, you won't get nothing done the next week.

"Then you have a losing streak, which we're in the middle of."

The Saints are coming off a dispiriting finish against the Falcons, when a defensive holding call on a field-goal attempt gave Atlanta's Todd Peterson a second chance to kick the winner. The previous week, the Saints were embarrassed 52-3 at Green Bay.

Through the losses and the displacement, the controversy over owner Tom Benson's dismissal of some front office personnel and the uncertainty of where the Saints eventually will wind up, Haslett said players have remained focused.

"You know, they've been good," he said. "They've got new places to live. On the field they've been good. And we've played well in spurts."