The Green Bay Packers will face off against the New Orleans Saints on Monday Night Football next week after the Packers finish their trip to Seattle to play the Seahawks on Sunday night. Unfortunately for the Saints, it looks like they’re going to be down their most important player.
Quarterback Derek Carr, who has previously missed time this season, went out with a hand injury on Sunday. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport is now reporting that the injury is a “significant fracture” to Carr’s non-throwing hand, which means that he’ll be out for several weeks, discrediting Saints interim head coach Darren Rizzi’s statement on Monday that claimed Carr is “week to week” and not even ruled out of action this weekend.
On top of Carr’s hand injury, he’s also in the league’s concussion protocol, adding another hurdle he needs to clear to be ready for next Monday.
If Carr can’t go, it’ll likely be Jake Haener, who displaced rookie Spencer Rattler as New Orleans’ backup quarterback, who will start under center against the Packers. This season, Haener has completed 14 of 29 passes for 177 yards and a touchdown for a passer rating of 79.2.
According to the New York Times’ playoff machine, the 5-8 Saints already have a less than one percent chance to make the postseason as it is, but there’s a chance that with some help this weekend — on top of a Haener-led loss — New Orleans could be eliminated from the postseason entirely before their Monday Night Football.