The Saints haven’t officially ruled Derek Carr out for this week, but he’s in the concussion protocol and has a left hand injury that combine to make his presence in the lineup against the Commanders highly unlikely.
Interim head coach Darren Rizzi has not said who will start if and when Carr is ruled out and it doesn’t sound like any announcement will be coming soon. Jake Haener and Spencer Rattler split the team reps in practice on Wednesday and Rizzi said it is “[fair](https://x.com/ByLukeJohnson/status/1866948891473744242)” to say they are competing for the chance to lead the offense this week.
Rizzi also said that it’s possible to wait until the last minute to make a call because there isn’t much difference between how the offense would operate under either player.
“They’re both guys that [throw the ball well](https://x.com/ByLukeJohnson/status/1866949200841240945), they’re both similar size guys, athletic ability is very similar,” Rizzi said, via Luke Johnson of the _New Orleans Times-Picayune_. “There’ll be some nuances in the game plan, depending on which guy starts, naturally. . . . But it’s not going to be this wholesale deal.”
Haener has played in seven games as a backup this season while Rattler started three games while Carr was sidelined with an oblique injury. The Saints lost all three of those contests.