It's been an injury-plagued two seasons for Derek Carr in New Orleans, and the question in Week 15 is one we're familiar with for the Saints starting QB: Is he healthy enough to play?
There's no satisfactory answer to that question as of Wednesday when I type this, but Saints GM Mickey Loomis made it clear what the answer to the next question would be if the first answer is a yes.
"He’s gonna be day-to-day, really, and he’s got an issue in his hand and there’s … a reason to be optimistic, but it’s a day-to-day thing," Loomis told WWL's Mike Hoss. "We’re just gonna have to go along and when he gets to the point where he can function well enough to play in the game, I know ... he wants to play and when he can, he will.”
Listen to the full, exclusive interview with Saints GM Mickey Loomis in the player above. Can't see the embed? Click here.
Carr is still in the process of working back from a concussion and fractured left hand suffered during a Week 14 win over the Giants. It sounds as if the veteran QB's issue will be the hand and whether he can play with it.
It's apparent that Carr wants to play, but the Saints have been effectively limited from playoff contention with a loss to the Commanders. They are currently listed with a <1% to make the postseason by NFL's Next Gen Stats. In Week 15 it was Jake Haener getting the start, with rookie Spencer Rattler taking over at halftime and engineering a rally from 17-0 down that ended on a missed 2-point conversion attempt that'd have given the Saints a win.
But being eliminated from playoff contention won't change the Saints' plans, Loomis said.
"We’re gonna try to win every game," Loomis said. "That’s what we’re here for. We’re gonna do everything we can to win every single game."
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Interim head coach Darren Rizzi said the decision won't be made until later in the week, with the Saints operating a day behind their typical schedule due to this week's game coming on Monday night against the Packers. There's also the question of Carr's contract that will linger into the offseason and includes a $30 million injury guarantee. The Saints will have some options there, but they'll have far less flexibility if that injury guarantee were to trigger. It's not a dissimilar situation to what Carr experienced during his last year with the Raiders, Russel Wilson with the Broncos in 2023, or Daniel Jones this year with the Giants.
A lot will also be determined by the inevitable coaching search, with the head coach in 2025 likely having strong feelings about who should lead the team at quarterback. None of that will be decided any time soon.
“We’re gonna … focus our attention on this week’s game against Green Bay and then the following two games and the coaching search will happen after the season," Loomis said. "I want to be fair to our coaching staff and to Darren Rizzi who I think is doing a fantastic job, and, you know, we’ll deal with next year after the season’s over.”
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MORE FROM LOOMIS
On Rookie QB Spencer Rattler
“Yea, look, I think that, look, a lot of times when you come into a game, you know, you don’t have a lot of time to think, you’re in there and you’re just playing and I thought that he did that. He came in, he made some plays, yea, I thought he was poised and look, he made a couple throws that could’ve gone either way, but they were good throws and we had guys on the other end making plays for him. I thought it was a good outing. It was good for him, good for his confidence and he provided a spark for us that we needed.”
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On RB Kendre Miller
“We know Kendre is a talented runner and the only thing that’s held him back to date is just opportunity, and opportunity given some of the injuries that he’s had. So it was good to see him get out there, have success. He had 9 carries for roughly 50 yards, 5-yard-plus average, that’s good running. He had yards after contact, he did some good things and there’s some things that he needs to improve upon and this will be an opportunity going forward for him to get on-field experience. It’s a big deal for him. You know, this is – and it’s a big deal for all of these players that are playing to play well and develop and help determine their future.”
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On MNF at Lambeau
“We’ve had some good battles with the Packers in recent years and, you know, it seems like we’re always playing the game at their place, though. It’d be nice to play one or two of those in the Superdome, but yea, it’s gonna be a good environment. It’s always a great environment at Lambeau Field, Monday Night Football, we won’t have to worry about motivation, our guys will be ready to go and we’ll see what happens.”