Derek Carr ‘week-to-week’ with AC sprain, not ruled out for Week 4

NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) - New Orleans Saints head coach Dennis Allen says the team “dodged a bullet,” and that quarterback Derek Carr’s sprained AC joint is not as bad as it could have been.

“We dodged a bullet there in terms of anything of real significance,” Allen said. “He felt better [Monday] than he did yesterday. We’ll see how he feels as the week goes on.”

Carr was sacked and thrown to the ground by Green Bay’s Rashan Gary with 10:51 left in the third quarter. Carr was slow to get up and eventually headed to the medical tent where X-rays confirmed a sprained AC joint in his right shoulder.

Allen says Carr is “week-to-week” and did not rule him out for the Sun., Oct. 1 game against divisional rival Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Saints opened as three-point favorites over Baker Mayfield and the Bucs.

New Orleans (2-1) led 17-0 when Carr got hurt. The Saints got outscored 18-0 without him, though backup Jameis Winston drove New Orleans into scoring position before Blake Grupe’s 46-yard field-goal attempt sailed wide right with 1:05 left.

“We know that we let this one slip away,” Winston said. “But we will be resilient. We will persevere.”

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New Orleans’ late collapse prevented the Saints from producing their first 3-0 start since 2013, when they won their first five games.

Carr was 13 of 18 for 103 yards with a touchdown pass. Winston went 10 of 16 for 101 yards. The Saints needed their passing game to fare well because they rushed for just 77 yards on 22 carries with Jamaal Williams on injured reserve and Alvin Kamara finishing his three-game suspension to open the season.

“We feel like we had the game pretty much in our hands,” said Rashid Shaheed, whose 76-yard punt return gave the Saints an early 14-0 lead. “It came down to execution at the end, and we just didn’t do that.”

The Saints gave up 20 points or fewer for an 11th straight game, but that didn’t provide any comfort for a team that now has concerns about its quarterback’s future.

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