Derek Carr knows all of his days in New Orleans won't be perfect.
He got that experience first hand in 2022, with his day at the Caesars Superdome resulting in at least one more pass to a gold helmet than he intended and a goose egg on the scoreboard. But that doesn't make his OTA debut any less impressive.
Calm and confident. 8 passes in team drills. 8 completions. All while, in effect, learning a brand new language surrounding by mostly new teammates.
"A lot of similarities to things that I grew up on and that I believe in," Carr said, "and so it’s still a learning curve but it’s not as big of a curve as it could be in a different system or a different offense. ... it’s been a lot of hard work on doing that, but it’s just Day 1. We’ve got more work to do, but it was a good start.”
The Saints are back in action on Wednesday and Thursday, then have two more sets of OTAs in the ensuing weeks. Carr is a veteran and expects the language learning to be over when the OTAs end. There was some initial awkwardness as he acclimates to the way the Saints do things after nearly a decade in the Raiders organization. One example came when he was standing on the field, waiting for Saints OC Pete Carmichael to call the play into his headset.
There was only one issue: The Saints don't use headsets during camp. Carmichael needed Carr to come over so the play call could be made face-to-face. That's the sort of thing that takes one day to get ironed out, and there are a lot more examples just like it. That goes for coaches and players. The new Saints quarterback has been watching cutups of his pass-catchers and sending them things he'd like them to keep doing. He's been keeping it positive to this point, but there will likely be some "don't do this" moments as he gets more comfortable with new teammates. It's all part of the chemistry-building process.
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A pair of those moments came during his first few sets of team drills. On one play, he decided to give Juwan Johnson a chance up the seam. The Saints TE made an impressive play on the ball for what would've been a big gain. The same held true for Chris Olave on a deep ball later in the practice, with the second-year WR going up for a 50-50 ball and hauling it in.
"This is the time to test it and see how guys break and all those different things, how they see certain coverages," Carr said. "I’m really just asking a lot of questions … because I want to speak the same language they’re speaking.”
But don't be fooled by the seemingly laid-back demeanor. Carr is in control, and he doesn't want it any other way. He's going to be in charge of setting protections, making sure the team is in the right play at the line, all of the things that a QB has to be able to do to fit in Carmichael's scheme. Carr even joked that watching his brother, David, get sacked repeatedly as the Texans QB made him want to make sure if that happened to him, it'd at least be his fault.
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It's a philosophical approach that Saints fans will appreciate after watching 15 years of Drew Brees, a "walking Hall of Famer" that Carr said he has no interest comparing himself to. But there is one element that he fully intends to bring with him in a new city.
"I came here for one reason and one reason alone, and that's to win," Carr said. "I believe that I can do that. I believe in myself. I believe in my teammates. I believe in this organization that they can help me do that, because I can’t do it by myself, no one can.”