Derek Carr has seen worse in the NFL.
Much, much worse.
During his rookie season with the then-Oakland Raiders in 2014, the team lost its first 10 games of the season, the head coach (Dennis Allen) was fired after four games and the Raiders went on to finish 3-13.
So while the New Orleans Saints, 2-2 entering Sunday's game against New England (1-3) at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass., aren't anywhere near peak efficiency on offense, Carr said the Saints have the personnel to overcome a slow start which has seen New Orleans average 15.5 points per game and drop its last two while totaling 26 points, including a punt return touchdown by Rashid Shaheed.
New Orleans is coming off a 26-9 loss on Sunday to Tampa Bay.
"I've been through tougher times than this," Carr said Wednesday. "We're going to be all right. We've got the right kind of people – I think that's where it starts with, it's a people business. And you've got to have the right kind of people.
"We have the right kind of people in the room. We have people that know what they're doing, we have people that want to do it right and they can do it right. We want to get back on track just as bad as everybody wants us to. We know what we're capable of.
"The best thing is, we just go out there and try to prove it again this Sunday. Make the corrections from what we've talked about, make our adjustments and things like that. But we have the right people, that's for sure."
Carr said the Saints offense has been close to having significantly more production than it has had in the previous four games.
"You sit there and you watch the film, and then you go out to practice and we do the corrections better, and we feel better," he said. "We can't forget what we're capable of.
"It's easy when it gets hard – especially early in the season – it's easy to let it beat you up. But D.A. (Coach Dennis Allen) did a great job of leading us today and reminding us that we still have everyone and what it takes to accomplish what we want. Let's just do the things better that we talked about, and today at practice we did those things better. So, hopefully, that leads to more success on Sunday."
Carr was limited in practice Wednesday, as he was last week, but he threw more this week than he did last Wednesday, when he was recovering from an AC joint sprain his right shoulder that sidelined him in the third quarter against Green Bay, an 18-17 loss.
"He's limited in practice and yet, I thought we got some good work with him this week, which I think is important," Allen said. "Things look good in terms of where he's at heading into this week."
"I feel much better this week than I did this time last week," Carr said. "It was a positive, a step in the right direction. Obviously, nervous after a game, don't know how it's going to be. But I'm doing better this week than I was last week."
INJURY REPORT: In addition to Carr, limited participants in Wednesday’s practice included cornerback Paulson Adebo (hamstring) and center Erik McCoy (knee). Safety Jordan Howden (finger) returned to practice and practiced full, as did tight end Foster Moreau (ankle). Players who did not practice were left guard Andrus Peat (concussion), tight end Juwan Johnson (calf), safety Lonnie Johnson Jr. (hamstring), defensive tackle Bryan Bresee (illness), and tight end Jimmy Graham (rest) and right tackle Ryan Ramczyk (rest/foot).
