As Derek Carr walked off Lambeau Field after a big hit early in the third quarter, shoulder slumped and flanked by medical personnel, he admits he feared the worst.
The Saints quarterback prides himself on not missing games due to injury, but in this case coming back in wasn't an option. he couldn't even lift his arm to attempt to throw a football. In the end the evaluation revealed an AC sprain, otherwise known as a separated shoulder, a diagnosis that head coach Dennis Allen termed as dodging a bullet.
"If I don’t ever come back in a game, for me that’s a big deal," Carr said. "That means, obviously, something is not right."
It's an injury that Carr has some familiarity with, having suffered a similar injury to his non-throwing shoulder while he in college at Fresno State. But this is the first significant injury he's suffered to his right shoulder, and for a quarterback that's a significant difference.
Carr sat out Wednesday's practice, though he was on hand in a non-contact jersey and going through mental reps. It's clear that both Carr and his coach want to keep the possibility of him playing in Week 4 on the table. Carr and his head coach are on the same page, he said, but for the quarterback it comes down to a simple question.
"If I can’t help the football team, I will never do that to our team," Carr said. "This is about winning and it’s about the team. But if I feel like I can help us win and I’m confident in landing on it and all that kind of stuff, then I’ll be out there.”
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One question Carr was able to answer definitively: Yes, there's confidence that he could refrain from throwing a ball all week as he recovers, and still go out and play effectively on Sunday. That might be different if he was a younger player. Drew Brees suffered a similar injury in 2014 and did just that on a short week against the Steelers, throwing five touchdown passes in a 35-32 win.
Brees had a similar fixation to Carr when it came to not missing games for any reason, but he also didn't have a backup with as much experience and built-in confidence as Jameis Winston, who would be the starter if Carr can't go. Despite the confidence displayed by Carr and the angle -- some might call it a smokescreen -- taken by his coach, that still feels like the most likely outcome. Even the mildest AC sprains will typically carry a 1-2 week recovery timeline, and with the offensive line having allowed four sacks in each of the first three games, it would be foolish to plan on Carr being able to avoid any hits throughout this game.
The next question becomes: Exactly how long can you stretch out the decision before it's a disadvantage to your own game-planning? The public announcement might wait until Sunday, but internally the choice would likely have to come much sooner. The Saints head coach admitted there would be a timeframe for that answer, but -- as you might've guessed -- he's keeping that to himself.
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“I think there’s a point where we’ve got to kind of make a decision, but we’re not at that point right now," Allen said. "It’s a situation where you kind of let it play out throughout the week and then come Sunday, we’ll have a good plan in place in terms of what we’re going to do.”
The Saints (2-1) and Bucs (2-1) face off Sunday at noon in the Caesars Superdome, with the winner taking over the catbird seat in the NFC South race.