The Portuguese manager watched on as his charges crashed out of the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday, courtesy of a 3-1 home loss against Atletico Madrid in the second leg of their semi-final.
That defeat heaped pain on a Chelsea side that had received a boost in the Premier League just three days earlier in the form of a 2-0 away win over leaders Liverpool.
"It's life," he said. "I think they come back like they have to be, but with the feeling that they had a good Champions League campaign - they did everything they could.
"Today we tried to build a training session where they could recover some smiles, some happiness, some good feelings."
Neil Adams has overseen Norwich's last three losses after succeeding Chris Hughton and knows his side are in a perilous position, with a home fixture against Arsenal to come on the final day of the season.
Norwich's boss can at least call on a positive recent experience at Stamford Bridge.
Although the club's first team have not won there since 1993, Adams was in charge last May when Norwich secured the FA Youth Cup with a 3-2 win at Chelsea that sealed a 4-2 aggregate success.
"I've got very good memories of Stamford Bridge. The last time I was there as a coach, we won the Youth Cup final," said Adams.
"It's not nice being in the bottom three. Obviously it's going to be tough, you don't want to be there.
"We have to go to Stamford Bridge and put in a performance that will get us a result. We hope to go there and execute the gameplan that we made."
Adams has confirmed that Joseph Yobo's calf problem will be assessed ahead of the game, while Anthony Pilkington (knock) will miss out.
For the hosts, goalkeeper Petr Cech (shoulder) is unlikely to play and Oscar (hip) is a doubt, while midfielder Ramires serves the second instalment of a four-match ban and will not play again this season.
