Neither New Orleans Saints quarterback Derek Carr nor Coach Dennis Allen on Wednesday would rule out Carr's possible participation in Sunday's game in the Caesars Superdome, when the Saints (2-1) take on Tampa Bay (2-1).
Carr suffered a sprained AC joint in his right (throwing) shoulder in the third quarter of Sunday's 18-17 road loss to Green Bay.
Allen said Monday that Carr was day-to-day, and that the shoulder felt better Monday than Sunday evening. Carr did not participate in practice Wednesday, though he was present and on the field.
"He was out there, he's feeling better today," Allen said. "We'll evaluate him to see where he's at (Thursday). Hopefully, we'll be able to get him back out there.
"Nothing has changed. We said we're going to evaluate him throughout the week and see where he's at. He didn't practice today, we'll see where we're at tomorrow with him. But I'm not ruling anything out."
Carr, who initially feared the worst and couldn't pick up his arm to throw a football after the hit, said that if he's able to play without hurting the team, he'll play.
"I hurt it in the game, but I'm doing everything I can – as always, whether when I broke my back, when I tore my groin, broke the finger – I do anything and everything I can with my rehab, everything with the trainers, I'm going to do everything I can to be out there with my guys," he said.
"If I can play, I'll play. If I physically just can't play, then I can't play. But if I'm out there, that means there's no fear of re-injury, there's no fear of being able to help the football team. So, I'm going to do everything I can to be out there, but never hurt the team at the same time."
Carr has been sacked 11 times in less than 11 quarters this season, but said he believes he could play even if he's unable to practice during the week.
"I'm not saying that I don't need practice, everybody needs practice reps," said Carr, who completed 13 of 18 passes for 103 yards and a touchdown, with no interceptions against the Packers. He was sacked three times.
"But sometimes situations are different, especially during the season," he said. "You want as many reps as you can get. There's still stuff I'm doing with the trainers, and there's still stuff I'm doing to see where we're at, what we can do and all that kind of stuff.
"But if I didn't throw a ball all week – who knows if that's going to be the case – but if it is, I'd still feel confident on Sunday. I'll never put the team in a bad place with the roster spot and all that kind of stuff, but if I'm out there that means I feel confident that I'll be good, I'm solid. That means I'm ready to play."
Prior to last year, when the Raiders decided to change quarterbacks for the final two games of the regular season, Carr only had been inactive twice (once each in 2016 and '17) in nine previous seasons.
"I've taken a lot of pride in not missing football games, no matter what," he said. "It's a tough pill to swallow but at the same time, looking ahead at how long the season is and all that, you have to be smart. And that's what (Allen) and I talked about.
"But if I'm ready to go, I'm ready to go. So I'm preparing to get ready to play, just like Jameis (Winston) is, just like Taysom (Hill). We're all preparing to get ready to do whatever our role is, and hopefully it works out to where I can play."
