There was little doubt that New Orleans Saints quarterback Derek Carr would be ready when New Orleans (5-5) takes the field against the Falcons (4-6) at Mercedez-Benz Stadium in Atlanta on Sunday. Carr had already shown the resiliency necessary to recover from an in-game injury to play the following week.
However, Carr, who suffered a shoulder injury and concussion against Minnesota on November 12 and was forced to leave the game in the third quarter, undoubtedly profited from the bye week that followed. He used the additional time to heal his shoulder and get cleared by the league’s concussion protocol.
It was a perfect timing, and I needed the bye,” he said on Friday. “A bye week later in the season is always desirable. It’s a grind playing football every day from training camp on. Before you take some time off, you have no idea how awful your body feels. After that, you feel refreshed and ready for practice on Wednesday.
“We’re happy. We feel that if we can just bring that together and let’s see what we can do down the stretch, we can finish first despite everything that has happened to us and our lack of flawless play on both sides. For us, this is an exciting moment.
In the NFC South standings, the Saints are ahead of the Falcons and Tampa Bay by one game, and a victory on Sunday could put some distance between them. New Orleans needed to use their bye week to conduct self-scouting in an effort to improve their inconsistent play from the first ten games.
Carr, who has completed 220 of 334 passes for 2,231 yards and 10 touchdowns with four interceptions, said, “It’s been a roller coaster.” “There were many difficult times in the beginning, with ups and downs. We performed a lot of really well in the last five games. We began to improve in the areas where we needed to improve.
