Saints' Derek Carr aims to return against Panthers in Week 9 due to injury, says HC Allen | News, results, highlights, statistics and rumors

New Orleans Saints quarterback Derek Carr will “very likely” return from his oblique injury in time to face the Carolina Panthers in Week 9, head coach Dennis Allen told reporters on Friday (h/t Katherine Terrell of ESPN).

The Panthers game is scheduled for Sunday, November 3rd.

Carr has been out since Oct. 7, when he suffered a left oblique strain during the Saints' Week 5 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.

Rookie quarterback Spencer Rattler has started two games in Carr's absence. Should Carr continue to be sidelined, he could earn a third start in next Sunday's Week 8 game against the Los Angeles Chargers.

Allen told reporters that it was “questionable” whether Carr would be ready to face the Chargers and suggested it was more likely he would start again the following week against the Panthers.

According to team reporter John DeShazier, the head coach said Carr will have a throwing session on Saturday that could help determine his return schedule.

“This is not a question of pain tolerance,” Allen told reporters, according to DeShazier. “This is a question of functionality when it comes to simply turning his upper body to make throws and whether he is able to do so. It’s about his ability to rotate his upper body to be able to throw the football.”

“Do I think he’ll be ready for the Charger game? I'm not sure. That is questionable. It's certainly very likely for next week. But I think we'll just have to go through the process and see how he will do that in the next three or four days, that will give us a much clearer picture of his availability.”

According to Terrell, Allen said Carr will likely throw again Saturday.

Carr had completed 70.3 of his passes for 989 yards while recording nine total touchdowns and four interceptions while leading the Saints to a 2-3 season-opening record before his injury.

Rattler, who has yet to record a win in Carr's place, has thrown for 415 yards in two games but recorded just one touchdown pass for two picks.

Both the Saints offensive line, which struggled to protect Rattler from a total of 11 sacks in two games, and the New Orleans defense, which allowed a season-high 594 total yards in a loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 6 Problems its beginnings.

Rattler was also coming off the Week 7 loss to the Denver Broncos with a hip injury, although Allen told reporters that the rookie quarterback should be ready to go for Week 8.

The Saints enter the game on a five-game losing streak. The good news for New Orleans is that the team has more than a week between Thursday's loss to the Broncos and next Sunday's road trip to the Chargers, giving both Rattler and Carr additional time to recover before their Team returns to action in Week 8.