Saints' Derek Carr 'very likely' to return against Panthers | Saints

New Orleans Saints quarterback Derek Carr is expected to start throwing again Saturday as he tries to recover from an oblique injury, coach Dennis Allen said Friday.

Allen said it will be possible to say soon whether Carr will be ready for next week's game against the Los Angeles Chargers, but added that it is “very likely” the quarterback will be ready in time for New Orleans' game against the Carolina Panthers on April 3 November will be healthy.

Carr was injured in a loss to the Kansas City Chiefs on October 7, suffering an injury that caused him to miss the final two games.

“This is not a question of pain tolerance,” Allen said. “This is a question of functionality when it comes to simply turning your upper body to make throws and being functional while doing so.

“Obviously there's a level of pain that comes with that, but it's his ability to rotate his upper body to be able to throw the football and that's the important part of what quarterbacks have to be able to do.”

Fox Sports initially reported that Carr was expected to miss three to four games. The Saints surprisingly listed Carr as “doubtful” rather than out before Thursday's 33-10 loss to the Denver Broncos. And previously, Allen said that quarterbacking had been upgraded from “week-to-week” to “day-to-day.”

Allen said Friday that the team's injured players would remain at the facility this weekend to work on their rehab.

“Do I think he’ll be ready for the Charger game? I’m not sure,” Allen said of Carr. “I think that’s questionable. I think it's very likely next week. But I think we just have to go through the process and see how he does over the next three or four days and that will probably give us a much clearer picture in terms of his availability for this weekend.”

If Carr isn't ready to start against the Chargers, Allen said the Saints would have to “talk about” who would start at quarterback. Spencer Rattler was the Saints' starter after Carr, but was substituted in the final two minutes of Thursday's loss after suffering a hip injury. Jake Haener replaced Rattler and threw the Saints' only touchdown of the game.

Rattler's hip “should be fine,” Allen said.

“When I went back and watched the game, I thought when Spencer Rattler was guarded, I thought he played really well,” Allen said. “I thought his challenges came when the defense collapsed and we couldn't give him an opportunity to get the ball out. “Then I think there are some things where he needs to learn to protect the ball better in those situations.”