Derek Carr Has the Chance to Change Perceptions

Beginning this weekend against the New York Giants, New Orleans Saints quarterback Derek Carr will have the chance to establish himself as "the guy" in the Big Easy.

It has been a tumultuous season for the New Orleans Saints' new signal caller Derek Carr. Several injuries including rib cartilage fractures, two concussions and a scary AC joint injury have piled on. His play, along with the offense as a whole, has been inconsistent and not what was promised. Questions of accountability and leadership have been plentiful. Simply put, it just has not been the season the quarterback and those critical of his performance thus far have expected. But with four games left in the season and playoff hopes still in grasp, the tenth-year veteran has the chance to change the public's perception of him.

Perhaps that perception is not at the top of his priority list. But his own words have confirmed his and the team around him's responsibility in giving Saints fans something to cheer about.

Derek Carr unhappy after being sacked by Carolina Panthers / Dec 10, 2023; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; New Orleans Saints quarterback Derek Carr (4) reacts to being sacked by Carolina Panthers linebacker Frankie Luvu (49) during the second half at the Caesars Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-USA TODAY Sports

"I'm going to my best this week to get everyone excited," Carr said in his Wednesday media availability. "Complete all the passes I can complete. Score all the points that we can score. I'm going to keep doing that. I'm going to keep giving everything that I physically can. Everything mentally that I can to do my best. And I know all of our team is doing that. But we've got to give (the fans) something to get excited about."

Carr's conflicted perception goes beyond the minds and social media profiles of fans and extends to NFL personnel as well. The Athletic’s Mike Sando recently revisited his league quarterback tiers. In the piece, he highlighted thoughts from anonymous sources from within various organizations. Some of the quotes he shared were less than favorable when it came to the Saints’ new signal caller.

“I think Josh McDaniels was vindicated for moving on from Carr, which is ironic when you look at how bad his decision-making was to go with Jimmy Garoppolo,” said a voter whose team faced the Saints. “It just proves that last year Josh did a lot with something that just doesn’t work, leadership wise and the whole thing.”

Praise for former Las Vegas Raiders head coach Josh McDaniels is anything but common. To have the rarity of such paired with your name is not the greatest vote of confidence. But Carr cannot allow himself to be defined by the negative, no matter how jarring. As the expected leader of a team with the second-best odds in the division to make the playoffs, he has a golden opportunity to at the very least introduce nuance to a very binary conversation rooted in extremes.  

Saints Once Again Control Their Destiny Late In Season

Carr should neither be completely condemned by his lows nor should he be completely exonerated by his highs. But so far this year, the lows feel like they outnumber the highs. The final four games of this season provide an opportunity to shift that. To bolster the positives and generate momentum into a postseason run. 

The playoffs were always the goal coming into the season, after all. Realizing that potential and perhaps even building off of it would go a long way to doing what it is that Carr is setting out to do: giving the fans, even those that have their doubts, something to cheer about.