Saints’ Carr exits loss early with shoulder injury

GREEN BAY, Wis. — Saints quarterback Derek Carr went to a local hospital Sunday to be evaluated after injuring his right shoulder in the third quarter of New Orleans’ 18-17 loss to the Packers, according to coach Dennis Allen.

”They’re doing an evaluation, I think it’s X-rays,” Allen said after the game. “I can’t tell you really any more than that. When we know what it is, we’ll let you know.”

Carr’s injury marks the fifth consecutive season that the Saints have injuries at quarterback. Drew Brees missed nine games between 2019 and 2020, and Jameis Winston missed most of the 2021 season with a torn ACL before injuring his back and foot in the 2022 season.

In that time span, the Saints also started Teddy Bridgewater, Trevor Siemian, Ian Book, Taysom Hill and Andy Dalton in addition to Brees, Winston and Carr due to injuries and COVID-19.

The Saints turned to Winston after Carr was ruled out of the game in the second half. The Saints had a 17-0 lead when Carr exited, but the Packers scored three straight times in the fourth quarter for the win.

Winston completed 10 of 16 passes for 101 yards and was able to drive the team 47 yards to the Green Bay 34 in the last three minutes of the game, but Saints kicker Blake Grupe missed a potential winning field goal.

“I think Jameis did fine stepping in,” Allen said. “Overall, I’m just going to say it wasn’t good enough for any of us.”

Carr landed hard on his shoulder following a sack that occurred on third-and-9 with 10:51 left in the third quarter. He remained on the ground for a few minutes as athletic trainers attended to his shoulder with his teammates kneeling beside him.

“Just to see him on the ground not wanting to move … of course that was alarming to see,” said Saints wide receiver Rashid Shaheed, who had a punt return for a touchdown early in the game.

Carr walked to the sideline on his own and entered the injury tent, where team doctors evaluated him and quickly determined that he would need to leave the game to get X-rays.

Carr was 13-of-18 for 103 yards and a touchdown before the injury.

“He got slammed pretty good,” Saints tight end Juwan Johnson said. “You could just tell. Obviously, it was unfortunate because of the sack, just him being on the ground, I knew something was up with the force he was put on the ground. I hope it’s nothing serious, that’s kind of the biggest thing.”

Winston will regain his starting role for the third straight season if Carr is out for any extended time. Winston took a pay cut to stay with the Saints this year after they signed Carr to a four-year, $150 million deal in free agency.

“I’m confident in our football team,” Allen said when asked of his confidence in Winston. “We stumbled today, we learned from it, we’ll get better from it and we’ll keep going.”

Winston appeared in four games in 2020 in place of an injured Brees, started seven games in 2021 and started the first three games of last season. He did not regain his starting job from Dalton last year after the team chose to rest him to heal his injuries.

Winston said that his first thought was whether Carr was OK after he got hurt. His second thought was that he needed to grab his helmet and warm up.

“The second thing is, ‘Hey, I’m prepared for this opportunity,'” Winston said. “I’ve been there before, and I was ready.”

Carr was the second Saints player ruled out Sunday after guard Cesar Ruiz left the game early with a concussion.

“We know he’s going to be all right, he’s a tough guy,” Shaheed said. “He’s a warrior. We’re all behind him no matter what.”