With both teams being eliminated from playoff contention weeks ago, the Week 17 contest pitting the Las Vegas Raiders versus the New Orleans Saints was short on interesting storylines, but one of them was Saints quarterback Derek Carr facing his old team.
A second-round pick in 2014, Carr spent the first nine years of his career with the Raiders before he was cut loose in 2023, which led to his signing with the Saints, which has not panned out through two seasons.
Sunday would've marked the first time Carr faced his former mates, but, sadly, we are going to get robbed of one of the few interesting storylines for this Saints-Raiders clash. Here's the latest injury update on Carr.
Derek Carr injury update
Carr suffered a fracture in his left hand during the Week 14 game against the New York Giants, which was initially expected to end his season. However, the Saints haven't put him on injured reserve yet, so he could play in Week 18.
Is Derek Carr playing vs. Raiders?
New Orleans released its final injury report of the week on Friday and Carr was ruled out. The veteran signal-caller will miss his third consecutive game, which means the Saints' offense will be in the hands of rookie Spencer Rattler once again.
That's bad news for the Raiders' draft positioning, as Rattler under center gives Las Vegas a better chance to win. New Orleans was shut out with Rattler starting last week.
Along with Carr, the Saints will also be without running back Alvin Kamara and starting offensive linemen Erik McCoy and Lucas Patrick, both of whom were placed on injured reserve on Saturday.
The Raiders saw themselves slide from No. 1 to No. 6 in the 2025 NFL Draft order last week after beating the Jacksonville Jaguars. If Las Vegas wins, they could fall two spots if both the Carolina Panthers and New York Jets lose.
