FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- It certainly didn’t feel like a bye week at Revolution training on Wednesday.

Despite having a week and a half until their next game -- Jun. 16 at home against Columbus -- many of the players on the training pitch were seen wiping the sweat off their brows after a final set of running and fitness drills.

Light and relaxed? Not this week.

“We’re putting in hard work,” Revolution defender Kevin Alston said. “We’re not taking any breaks (this week). We’ll have the time to do that on the weekend.”

Although the players will be given the weekend off, team captain Shalrie Joseph suggested that the team’s approach in training won’t change, even without a game lined up for Saturday.

“We still have to prepare as if we have a game this week,” Joseph said. “Right now, it’s about staying mentally sharp and making sure we know what’s ahead of us.”

Staying within a routine will be key. Coming off a convincing 2-0 win over conference rival Chicago last week, Alston knows there’s no sense in letting off the pedal.

“Our last game was pretty good,” Alston said. “And we don’t want to regress from that. We want to stay where we’re at and keep the (intensity) level high.”

Tightening up

Without an opponent on this weekend’s agenda, head coach Jay Heaps said that the bye week presents an opportunity for the team to improve its form.

Although the Revolution put together a solid performance against Chicago, Heaps wants to see more from his team in specific areas.

“I want to get our game management down,” Heaps said. “Some of our spacing, when we have the ball, when we don’t have the ball and we’re going to continue to work on set pieces going forward and defending. Those are some of things that we have to make sure we’re doing seamlessly game in and game out.”

Of course, a single bye week off won’t fix every weakness. But with more time to devote to tightening up, Heaps isn’t shy to admit what the focus is this this week.

“We want this week to be about us,” Heaps said. “And then next week, we’ll get back into a normal progression of what we normally do, which is preparing for the next opponent.”

Cheers to the weekend

With the weekend to themselves, a number of Revolution players are looking forward to spending time pursuing their own endeavors.

Joseph said he’ll be coaching his youth club team (Shalrie Joseph SC) and plans on either going to Cape Cod or New York, where he has family.

Like Joseph, Alston also mentioned using the time to get away. Although he mentioned that he doesn’t have any firm plans, he said he might go down to Washington, D.C. to see his family.

Meanwhile, center back Stephen McCarthy was originally thinking about flying out to see his family. But instead, he may in fact bring one important family member up to the area.

“I think what I’m going to try to do is bring my mom here,” McCarthy said. “And she can make me some home cooked meals.”

Pulling for the Celtics

Although all may be quiet for now on the Revolution front, Joseph and Alston admitted that they’ve been keeping a close eye on the Boston Celtics’ dramatic postseason run.

In fact, Joseph was particularly excited about the Celtics’ 94-90 win over the Heat in Tuesday’s Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals.

“It was huge,” Joseph said. “They’re so mentally strong and they’re such a great team and (Game 5) showed that they can put it together each and every night.”

With Game 6 in Boston, Joseph said that he’s scrambling to find tickets for the potential series clincher.

“I’ve been working on it all day,” Joseph said with a smile. “Kevin and I want to get there for (Thursday) to support them and make sure that they get that win at home.”

Brian O'Connell is covering the Revolution for ESPNBoston.com. He is the co-founder of New England Soccer Today (www.nesoccertoday.com), which covers professional soccer within New England. He can be reached at BOConnell21@aol.com.