Saints quarterback Derek Carr is back in the concussion protocol.
Carr suffered his second concussion in the last four weeks during Sunday’s 33-28 loss to the Lions in Detroit and he has also dealt with multiple right shoulder issues, but he’s yet to miss a start in his first season in New Orleans. After Sunday’s loss, head coach Dennis Allen faced questions about whether the time has come for that to change.
Allen said that “it’s concerning” any time a player has a concussion in response to a question about multiple head injuries in a short period of time and he was also asked about the cumulative effect of the injuries being a reason to sit Carr down. The team did something similar with Jameis Winston last year, but Allen said it’s not the same picture for the two players.
“I think both of those are totally different situations,” Allen said. “They’re both totally different situations. We’re not getting into what we did last year and what we’re doing this year, alright? Look, Derek’s in the concussion protocol right now. We will evaluate that as we go.”
The Saints have home games against the Panthers and Giants the next two weeks and they need to start stacking some wins if they’re going to have a shot at the NFC South title. The concussion may keep Carr out the picture for at least the Panthers game and the home crowd may not mind it if Allen were to extend any time away from the field.