NEW ORLEANS (AP)— The boos appeared to rain down on Derek Carr until Lions defensive tackle Bruce Irvin landed hard on top of the Saints quarterback with less than 10 minutes remaining in New Orleans’ 33-28 loss to Detroit on Sunday.
Carr had to exit a game for the third time in his tenth NFL season, his first with the Saints, due to upper-body ailments, concussion symptoms, or both.
“I can’t imagine the mental battles that he’s going through,” said Saints left lineman James Hurst, alluding to both the fans’ treatment of Carr and the physical toll the game has had on the 32-year-old quarterback this season. “We understand the type of person he is. And as teammates, we love him.
According to the Saints, Carr injured his back and shoulder, which seemed to be his right (throwing) shoulder. He was also brought into the concussion protocol.
Carr missed Week 3’s loss to Green Bay with a sprained AC joint in his right shoulder. It’s unclear how well the initial injury has healed, but Carr has recovered from all of his other ailments this season without missing a game. Both times, the Saints (5-7) lost the following game he began.
When Carr hit the field in New Orleans on Sunday, the atmosphere in the Superdome reflected a dissatisfied audience — if it even showed up.
Technically, season tickets for the Superdome are sold out. Based on the prevalent “Honolulu blue” in the stands—and the booming yells of, “Let’s Go Lions!”—it appeared that a number of locals had sold their tickets on the secondary market to Detroit fans.
“The way we’re sitting, like, we look over there, and it was pretty blue,” Hurst recalled of the lower stands behind the Lions bench. “They are enjoying a good season. So that happens.
Hurst described the sound of dissatisfied supporters as “miserable, honestly.” “But, in a way, we put ourselves in it. We’re playing the game.
Dennis Allen, Saints coach, observed the negativity.
“How can you not?” Allen stated. “It’s our responsibility to alter it. I was proud of how our guys fought back, got back into the game, and gave themselves a legitimate chance.”
The Saints entered Week 13 with the fourth-worst red-zone offense in the NFL. Fans wasted no time letting Carr know they were fed up with his season-long struggle to close out drives with touchdowns. They booed him during pregame introductions, when he first took the field — and when he trotted off the field after his first pass was intercepted.
For much of the game, each time reserve QB Taysom Hill went in for his usual selection of runs or run-pass option plays, fans cheered, then booed when Hill went to the sideline and Carr came back in.
The Saints fell behind 21-0 in the first seven minutes. But New Orleans wound up perfect in the red zone, scoring touchdowns all four times it got inside the Detroit 20-yard line. Carr led three of those scoring drives and Jameis Winston finished the last one, which was aided by a personal foul penalty on the hit that knocked Carr out of the game.
In the end, it was another Saints loss — their fifth this season by eight or fewer points.
Saints’ safety Tyrann Mathieu grew up in New Orleans during the Drew Brees era, when the club represented the community’s determination to not only survive, but grow in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina’s destruction. He was in high school when the Saints began the 2009 season 13-0 and went on to win the franchise’s only Super Bowl, which was celebrated with a parade as wild and well-attended as any during Mardi Gras.
“Growing up in this city, it’s no secret that we’re all invested,” Mathieu remarked when questioned about fans’ complaints in the dome. “They have the right to impose pressure. But, at the end of the day, dude, we are one family, one community.
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