NFL
Why isn’t Derek Carr playing for the Saints against the Buccaneers? NFL Week 6 injury status
As New Orleans prepare for Sunday’s game in Tampa Bay, there is an appreciation that it will be without the team’s starting quarterback.
The New Orleans Saints have seen better days, but it’s not for lack of trying as seen in the performance of their talented starting quarterback. Sadly, the signal caller is going to have to sit down for a while due to injury, which begs the question of how the Saints are going to get back on track while he does.
What happened to Saints’ Derek Carr?
On Monday night, the Saints dropped to 3-2 in the NFC South following a 26–13 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs at GEHA Field, Arrowhead Stadium. Unfortunately, the defeat was not the only thing that the Saints lost that night as quarterback Derek Carr suffered what has since been diagnosed as an oblique injury, and it gets worse.
According to reports, the Saints are now set to be without Carr for at least the next two games. If you’ve been following, that means a clash with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday and a Thursday Night Football dance with the Denver Broncos on October 17.
Where details are concerned, Carr suffered the injury during the fourth quarter of Sunday’s game on a fourth-and-8 inside Chiefs’ territory. After taking a heavy hit while trying to make a deep pass to wide receiver Mason Tipton, it was clear that all was not right.
See also: Week 6 NFL injury round-up
Who will replace Derek Carr?
With that, the Saints turned to Jake Haener, a fourth-round pick by New Orleans in 2023, who saw out the latter stages of the game. Interestingly, Haener is not expected to replace Carr in the team’s next game with reports that the team may actually go with rookie quarterback Spencer Rattler.
For his part Rattler, a fifth-round pick by New Orleans in April, performed impressively when he was given the chance in preseason, throwing for 202 yards with two total touchdowns (one passing, one rushing) across three games.
As for Carr, it’s clear he will be missed having thrown for 989 yards, eight touchdowns, and four interceptions on 90-of-128 passing (100.7 passer rating) in the five games that he played. The Saints and Bucs will kickoff their game on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. ET. Don’t miss it.