On track to return Sunday for the struggling New Orleans Saints, Derek Carr doesn't see himself as a harbinger of salvation.
He's merely a leader of a squad looking to conclude a cursed six-game losing streak.
"I am no savior," Carr told reporters Wednesday before paying respect to his Lord and Savior. "There's only been one of those and that is not me. I am here to be a great leader and to be a great teammate and to do my job the best of my ability. Do I feel confident in what I can do? Absolutely. I feel confident in what I can do. I feel confident in what I can bring to our team. And that's exciting. But to save us or anything like that, that's not me."
Sidelined with an oblique injury since a Week 5 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, Carr is expected to be ready to go Sunday against the Carolina Panthers, head coach Dennis Allen said.
Carr left the Saints amid a three-game losing streak that's now doubled.
The hope is that the QB1's return, coupled with facing a one-win Panthers team, will be the remedy for the Saints' ills.
Carr just isn't about to make any season-redeeming proclamations, even if he's set up in sensational fashion.
In Week 1, Carr and the Saints dismantled the Panthers, as he threw three touchdowns in a 47-10 win. With that victory, Carr improved to 5-0 in his career against Carolina, having won twice with the Raiders and thrice with Saints.
With both teams having taken a struggle bus down a winding road this season, Carr and Panthers quarterback Bryce Young will be starting opposite each other once again in a somewhat startling development. Carr has missed three games due to injury with rookie Spencer Rattler starting in his place, while Young was benched but has now returned to the starting lineup after Andy Dalton went down with a thumb injury.
Once a 2-0 darling, the season is slipping away from the Saints if it hasn't already.
Carr's hoping to change his team's fortunes, but isn't promising anything novel.
"I'm going to come in and do what my guys expect me to do: bring energy, bring effort, like I said, be a great teammate," he said. "Encourage our guys, get everybody on the same page, lock in the details, hold each other accountable. What do we got nine weeks that are promised to us, right? Or 10. Whatever week this is. There's just a full commitment from myself to our guys."
Carr practiced for the first time Wednesday since leaving the Chiefs game. He was listed as limited, but promises to be full-speed ahead.
"When I get back, I'm going to be a psychopath," he said. "I'm going to be crazy about the details and everything because we only get one shot at this. So, I don't have any promises or anything except that I'll promise great effort and promise long nights and early mornings to make sure we are at our best."
