The New Orleans Saints will be without quarterback Derek Carr for the foreseeable future.
Carr, who left their 26-13 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs early on Monday night, is expected to miss multiple games with an oblique injury, according to the NFL Networks’ Mike Garofolo. A specific timeline isn’t clear, but Carr will likely miss both their game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday and against the Denver Broncos the following Thursday night.
Carr left Monday night’s game at Arrowhead Stadium early after he took a hard hit late in the fourth quarter while trying to make a pass. He was seen walking off the field a few plays later, and he did not return. Carr underwent an MRI on Tuesday to determine the severity of the injury, which head coach Dennis Allen described after the loss as a “left side injury.”
Carr said he hurt himself not on the hit on the play — the Chiefs sent an all-out blitz at him on the fourth down play, which forced an incompletion and eventual turnover on downs — but while trying to make the throw before he was hit.
“I couldn’t do what I needed to do, in the simplest form,” Carr said of the play.
So Carr was replaced by Jake Haener for the rest of the game. Haener, a second-year quarterback out of Fresno State, has now appeared in three games this season — though he had attempted just a single pass before Monday night. He finished throwing 2 of 7 for 17 yards to close out the loss in Kansas City.
Though Haener got the call on Monday night, the Saints are reportedly considering starting rookie Spencer Rattler in Carr’s absence. Rattler, who the Saints picked up in the fifth round of the NFL Draft earlier this year, threw for a career-high 3,186 yards and 19 touchdowns last season at South Carolina. If he does indeed start on Sunday, he would be the fifth rookie quarterback across the league to start this season. Rattler has yet to play a game this fall
Carr has thrown for 989 yards and eight touchdowns with four interceptions this season, his second in New Orleans, while leading the Saints to a 2-3 start. They’ve now lost three straight after opening the season with back-to-back blowout wins.
The Saints will host the Buccaneers next on Sunday, and then host the Broncos on Oct. 17 on “Thursday Night Football.” After that, they have a 10-day break between games before traveling to take on the Los Angeles Chargers in Southern California. That should provide a window for Carr to return before the end of the month, so long as he doesn’t have any setbacks in his recovery.