Back on December 8th when Derek Carr broke his left hand in a game against the New York Giants, most thought his season was likely over. Which would have meant he wouldn’t get the opportunity to face his former Raiders team when they come to New Orleans in Week 17.
Now just three weeks later, Saints head coach Darren Rizzi has opened up the possibility that Carr could play after all.
“You know I’m hoping so,” said Rizzi of the possibility of Carr playing. “We came out of the last few days with him getting a little bit better. So I think at some point this week, we’re going to try to simulate what it would be like in a game and see if he’s able to function and . . . if he’s able to do it then we’ll do it.”
Rizzi added that Carr wants to get back and he’s been working hard to try and make that happen. As you can understand considering it would be his first — and possibly only — chance to face the team with which he spent the first nine years of his career.
But in order for that to happen, he must be able to use the hand to protect himself, protect the ball, and the Saints will have to be able to run their offense as well with his limitations as they would with one of their other QB’s in order for it to make sense.
If Carr isn’t able to prove he is ready to return, then it will be rookie Spencer Rattler who will get his fifth start of the season. Though the Saints have no won with Rattler at QB, including Monday becoming the only team in the NFL to be shut out.
That performance has some wondering if perhaps second year QB Jake Haener might get a shot at starting. The uncertainty means the Raiders defensive coordinator Patrick Graham has his work cut out for him preparing for all three quarterbacks.
“We’ll have more information with the injury reports and things of that nature,” said Graham. “And then from there, in terms of how we allocate the time and practice if there is a change in scheme, I got to take an educated guess as the defensive coordinator in terms of what we’re going to practice and be ready to adjust. But I think they all have three specific toolsets that provide challenges for us as a defense.”
The Saints held a walk-thru this week, so their first injury report was an estimate. We will know more about Carr’s potential availability when today’s injury report comes out.
