Derek Carr: A look into the Saints' quarterback's injury history
The New Orleans Saints suffered their first loss of the 2023 NFL season at the hands of the Green Bay Packers, but worse than that, the Saints lost Derek Carr.
Derek Carr has always been viewed as a guy who's been able to bounce back from injury faster than most players in the league, and with the good news for the New Orleans Saints that this injury isn't as serious as originally suspected, there's lots of optimism in the air for the Saints and their fans.
The early suspicion is that Carr suffered an AC Joint sprain, which can typically heal overnight or in extreme scenarios last up to six weeks to be fully healed. Carr seemed to be in promising spirits and it doesn't seem like an overly extreme scenario, so the 2-1 New Orleans Saints can certainly take a sigh of relief.
After doing some due diligence and some digging into the injury history of Carr, it brings some excitement to share it with you given the findings.
Derek Carr's 2014 - 2017 Seasons
2014
Derek Carr's rookie season in the National Football League beat him up quite a bit- but he proved to be resilient and tough leader on the football field.
Injury One- Head Cranial Concussion (Grade 1): Carr suffered a concussion in the Raiders' preseason game his rookie season after taking a big hit, but only missed one preseason game as a result.
Injury Two- High Ankle Sprain (Grade 3): Carr suffered a high-ankle sprain and missed the remainder of the game he was playing in, but did not miss any other action after that.
2015
Injury Three- Hand/Finger Sprain: Carr suffered a finger sprain on his ring finger during the offseason, but was cleared for full practice activities by June minicamp.
Injury Four- Hand/Thumb Sprain: Carr suffered a bruised right (throwing) thumb during the 2015 season. He missed the rest of that game, but was back the following week.
2016
Injury Five- Hand/Finger Fracture: Carr dislocated (and broke) his right pinky finger in 2016 while snapping the ball. He missed a drive and returned later in the game. Carr did not miss any additional time from that injury.
Injury Six- Leg/Fibula Fracture: Carr broke his fibula during a week 16 matchup with the Colts. He missed the rest of the season (1 game) and was ready to go for the start of the 2017 season.
2017
Injury Seven- Inverse Back Fracture: Derek Carr suffered an inverse back fracture against the Denver Broncos in Week Four of the 2017 NFL season and only missed one game as a result. He didn't miss another game this season.
2023
Injury Eight- AC Joint Sprain: Derek Carr suffered what is believed to be an AC Joint Sprain during Week Three of the 2023 NFL season against the Green Bay Packers. We do not yet know the length of time this injury will sideline him for.
All in all, Derek Carr is tough as nails. It takes a lot to keep him off the field, missing just two games in his NFL career as a result of injury despite breaking multiple bones. The New Orleans Saints certainly could be in a worse spot.