The Saints will be without Derek Carr for a while.
The veteran quarterback is expected to miss multiple weeks after suffering an oblique injury Monday night against the Chiefs, according to NFL Network.
Carr aggravated his oblique with 9:32 left in the fourth quarter during New Orleans’ 26-13 loss in Kansas City.
“Not good,” Carr said of how he was feeling after the injury on Monday night, per ESPN.
Carr was replaced by backup signal-caller Jake Haener for the remainder of the game.
NFL Network reported that rookie quarterback Spencer Rattler, who was taken in the fifth round of the 2024 NFL Draft by the Saints, is “a strong candidate” to start for New Orleans while Carr is out.
The Saints are set to play two games over the next nine days — on Sunday against the Buccaneers and the following Thursday against the Broncos.
After the Thursday night game, the Saints won’t play until Oct. 27 against the Chargers.
Playing in his 11th NFL season, Carr had been unbelievable through the first two games of the season, throwing for 443 yards with five touchdowns, leading the Saints to a 2-0 start.
New Orleans has struggled since then, losing three straight games to fall to 2-3, which is good for third in the NFC South.
Overall this season, Carr has thrown for 989 yards with eight touchdown passes and four interceptions while completing 90-of-128 attempts (70.3 percent).
If Carr indeed misses time, it will be the first game he’s missed with injury since the 2017 season.
In late 2022, Carr missed two games after the Raiders demoted him from the starting quarterback spot.
