METAIRIE, La. (WGNO) — New Orleans Saints quarterback Derek Carr says his shoulder feels a lot better now than it did this time last week.
Carr was limited in practice as he continues to recover from an AC joint sprain (right shoulder) in his throwing arm suffered in their week three loss at Green Bay.
Carr’s progress is a positive considering the Saints face Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots, a matchup he calls a challenge in itself.
“They try and take away what you like best. Another way is they like to make you play left-handed, all these different terms they’ve throw around, right? There’s no denying his success. There’s no denying what he’s been able to accomplish and being one of if not the best coach to ever coach football and that’s a pretty amazing statement. He has time after time after time proven in every and all circumstances that he can get his guys ready to go. Being able to take away your best thing that you do and attack what they feel are your weaknesses are things that they do great,” says Saints quarterback Derek Carr.
Through four games, the Saints have show more weaknesses than strengths on offense.
The unit currently averages just under 16 points per game with a rushing offense that is 25th in the NFL and a passing attack that’s 21st.
“Starting the games slow is one thing. Self-inflicted wounds. Right now we haven’t been able to overcome those whether it’s penalties or big-loss plays. We haven’t been able to overcome them and the the biggest one is scoring touchdowns in the redzone. Most of the time people are wondering, ‘how do we get down to the redzone? how do we get down to the redzone? ‘You’re going to get down to the redzone but the huge difference is if you’re scoring seven or you’re scoring three,” says Saints offensive tackle James Hurst.
When talking about the Saints’ lack of production, many outside of the building are quick to target the play calling, while the players inside feel it falls more on the execution.
“From a player’s standpoint, we love Pete (Carmichael). We know what he brings. We know how smart he is. We see when we turn the film on, ‘that’s on me or that’s on you,’ talking player-wise. ‘We’ve got to do that better for you, Pete.’ You know, and I think once we play better and once we execute better, hopefully there won’t be a target on his back because he’s given his whole life to this city and this organization for a long time and he’s still the same, amazing coach he’s been the whole time,” says Carr.
The Saints offense has a chance to right the ship Sunday at Noon against New England.
The Patriots currently feature a top-ten defense, and an offensive unit experiencing some turbulence of their own so far in the 2023 season.
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