Saints quarterback Derek Carr was willing to put his health at risk to help improve New Orleans’ chances of playing important games in mid-December.
Now, the Saints, who have stayed in the playoff race by winning three out of their last four games, may have to play without Carr again — and it didn’t go well the last time he was sidelined.
Saints interim coach Darren Rizzi said on Monday that they are not ruling Carr out for any of the team’s remaining four games because of his injured non-throwing hand and concussion. Both injuries happened when he tried to jump for a first down and fell hard during the fourth quarter of New Orleans’ 14-11 win over the struggling New York Giants on Sunday.
“We’re not going to rule him out just yet,” Rizzi said. “We have to see in the next day or two what the healing process is like and see if he can function.”
“The good news is it’s not his throwing hand,” Rizzi said. “The bad news is we’re obviously dealing with an injury here that we have to kind of play it by ear.”
Rizzi explained that Carr must clear the concussion protocol first. After that, they will check how well Carr can manage with his hand injury.
Derek Carr comes down on his arms in the 4th quarter
“It’s been done before,” Rizzi said when asked about the possibility of an NFL QB playing with an injured non-throwing hand. “It appears at the moment that it’s non-surgical, which is a big aspect of it. … That’s why we’re going to discuss the options.”
Last season, Los Angeles Chargers QB Justin Herbert played with a broken finger on his non-throwing hand. Buffalo Bills QB Josh Allen has played part of this season with an injured non-throwing hand.
If Carr is unable to play, his replacement will be either second-year player Jake Haener or rookie Spencer Rattler. Rattler started three games earlier this season when Carr had an oblique injury, and all those games resulted in losses for New Orleans, who were in the middle of a seven-game losing streak.
“We’ve just got to surround whomever it is and pick him up and get him rolling with the rest of us,” guard Lucas Patrick said. “It’s just another step of adversity in this long season that we’ve had.”