The New Orleans Saints fired coach Dennis Allen on Monday, a day after a loss at last-place Carolina extended the Saints’ losing streak to seven games — their longest since 1999.

“DA is an excellent football coach,” Saints general manager Mickey Loomis said. “This season, we’ve had an avalanche of injuries. It took its toll. DA has never offered excuses. He fought each day for this organization and this team and that is what makes today disappointing.”

The Saints named special teams coordinator Darren Rizzi the club’s interim coach for the final eight games of what is trending toward a fourth straight season without a playoff berth for New Orleans (2-7).

“This is not a day for celebration,” Rizzi said. “This is a tough day. At the same time, there’s only one way to fight through this.”

The 54-year-old Rizzi said he embraced the challenge he’s inherited because “I embrace everything.”

“I only know how to do things one way. I grew up a little bit of a fighter. I’ve really never really been handed anything,” Rizzi said, noting that he was a walk-on tight end in college at Rhode Island, an undrafted free agent with the Philadelphia Eagles in 1992 and got his first head coaching job with Division II New Haven in 1999.

“Literally, we’re going to reevaluate everything,” said Rizzi, who considers himself a disciple of two-time Super Bowl winning coach Bill Parcells, who was a Miami Dolphins executive when he gave Rizzi his first NFL job.

“You’re going to reevaluate everybody, everything, staff, the coaches the players,” Rizzi said. “Because, right now, when you lose seven games in a row, you’re obviously not in a place where you can stay status quo.”

Allen went 18-25 without a playoff appearance since taking over in 2022 after Sean Payton, the most successful coach in Saints history, began what turned out to be a one-season retirement from coaching.

Allen was promoted by Loomis after a six-season tenure as New Orleans’ defensive coordinator, a period that saw his unit ranked in the top 10 in the NFL in 2020 and 2021.

“Dennis has been a part of our organization for many years,” Saints owner Gayle Benson said, referring to Allen’s initial stint as a defensive assistant with New Orleans from 2006 to 2010. “He has been extremely loyal and professional.

“All of this makes today very tough for me and our organization,” Benson added. “However, this decision is something that I felt we needed to make at this time.”

Raiders fire three assistant coaches

Antonio Pierce hopes recent history repeats itself when the Raiders play the season’s second half

Raiders coach Antonio Pierce used a profanity Monday to describe the season’s first half, but with a week off to contemplate all that went wrong, his attention turns to finding hope over his team’s final eight games.

Part of that process began Sunday night when he fired offensive coordinator Luke Getsy, quarterbacks coach Rich Scangarello and offensive line coach James Cregg. Pierce said he would take a day or two to see who would handle those responsibilities moving forward.

Las Vegas was in a similar situation at this time last year when owner Mark Davis fired coach Josh McDaniels and general manager Dave Ziegler after a 3-5 start and a 26-14 loss at Detroit in a Monday night game. Pierce became the interim coach, and Las Vegas went 5-4 the rest of the way, instilling energy into the organization and earning him the full-time job.

Cowboys’ Prescott out at least 1 game

Dallas quarterback Dak Prescott will miss at least one game with a hamstring injury that the team said is still being evaluated.

Coach Mike McCarthy ruled out Prescott for Sunday’s game at home against Philadelphia. Prescott was injured in the second half of a 27-21 loss at Atlanta.

Multiple reports citing anonymous sources said Prescott was expected to miss multiple games. McCarthy said putting his 31-year-old QB on injured reserve was a possibility. That move would sideline Prescott at least four games.

Vikings lose All-Pro long snapper DePaola

Injuries to All-Pro long snapper Andrew DePaola and rookie kicker Will Reichard had the Minnesota Vikings assessing their options Monday for temporary replacements in an midseason disruption to what has been one of the NFL’ s most productive kicking operations.

DePaola will have minor surgery on his hand and need to be placed on short-term injured reserve, coach Kevin O’Connell said. Reichard has a quadriceps injury that was being evaluated by the medical staff, with his availability for the next game still being determined and a possibility he’ll need a sub too.

DePaola, who was a Pro Bowl selection in each of the past two years and also an AP All-Pro pick for 2023, hasn’t missed a game since joining the Vikings (6-2) midway through the 2020 season.

Reichard, the team’s sixth-round draft pick out of Alabama, was 14 for 14 on field goals and 20 for 20 on extra points over the first seven games. He pulled a 53-yard try wide right and hit a 31-yard attempt off the right upright in the second quarter Sunday against Indianapolis.

Jason Kelce apologizes for cellphone incident

Retired Eagles center Jason Kelce apologized during ESPN’s pregame show Monday night after grabbing the phone of an unruly fan and spiking it to the ground before the Ohio State-Penn State game last weekend.

“In a heated moment, I decided to greet hate with hate,” Kelce said before ESPN’s broadcast of the Buccaneers-Chiefs game featuring his brother, Kansas City tight end Travis Kelce. “I fell short this week.”