It’s a new dawn, it's a new day, it's a new life under center for the Saints in 2023. Derek Carr is QB1 after shedding the Silver & Black in Las Vegas to wear Black & Gold in New Orleans.
“I feel very confident,” said Carr about going into week one of the regular season.
“That is one thing about me; I will never lose confidence. Whether it goes really great or doesn't go so great. I always believe in myself and believe what I can do.”
The Who Dat Nation wants to believe in Carr. The Saints haven’t qualified for the playoffs since Drew Brees retired! After a 2-year hiatus, fans are starving for postseason football.
“I like how we practice. I like the level of execution, the demand from everybody, the sense of urgency that everybody has,” said Carr. “There's no pulling teeth here. Everybody's on it”
“As a team, I feel like we're close, real united. Same purpose, same mindset. Everybody on the same page, got each other's back, all those good things that you want to see going into a football season.”
Carr is entering his 9th season in the NFL after getting drafted by the Raiders in the 2nd round in 2014. The franchise released him, allowing the Saints to swoop in and give the 32-year old a 4-year deal worth $150 million.
A big question is will Carr live up to that big money deal? He’s thrown for 35,222 yards, completing 65% of his passes and tossing 217 TDs vs. 99 INTs. The QB can’t wait to show what he and this Black & Gold bunch is capable of.
“It finally feels like this is what all the work was for,” Carr explained. “You can feel a sense of urgency, but you can feel a sense of peace to that. It's that calmness before it really gets going that we know the level of expectation we have for each other, we know the level of patience we have personally. And, you can feel that in every guy, everyone's confident. But, there's that urgency everyone's coming to work with. And it's exciting because you can feel it everyone's ready to just cut it loose and let it go.”
Carr and the krewe will cut it loose noon Sunday in the Cesars Superdome. Be sure to tune into the local call with “The Voice” Mike Hoss and Saints legend Deuce McAllister on WWL AM, FM, wwl.com and the free Audacy app.
WWL’s pregame coverage starts 8am Sunday on First Take. Then at 10am, it’s the Bud light Countdown to kick off with the Cajun Cannon, Bobby Hebert, outside the Dome between gates A&B. WHO DAT!