Carr discusses injury, family tragedy at Las Vegas church appearance
Derek Carr is no stranger to speaking from the pulpit in Las Vegas, but this time the NFL world was watching as the Saints quarterback shed some light on a shoulder injury that has cast doubt on his availability for the 2025 season.
Carr didn’t have any new revelations about his status for the upcoming campaign. It was more of an opportunity to vent about all of the opinions that have been shared about the legitimacy of his injury.
He also shared publicly the details of a family tragedy.
“I hate that I have to say this, but I have to say this,” Carr said during a speech Sunday at ChurchLV. “Yes, I have a shoulder injury, despite what ESPN says and what some lady on a podcast might think. I have an MRI report to prove it. The team knows about it, we’ve been in constant communication. There’s nothing wrong, we’re figuring it out and we’re gonna go forward with that.”
Carr is believed to have been referencing The Athletic’s Dianna Russini, who called Carr’s situation “fishy.”
He believes there are far more important things to focus on. Carr shared his family recently found out his wife Heather suffered a miscarriage before they even knew she was pregnant.
“We didn’t know we had a baby, and now we’re hit with this and this emotional toll of, ‘Wait, we had a child?’” Carr said. “I don’t just have four babies, we have five. One is in heaven. We have three little boys and a little girl, and we’ll get to meet the other one when we get to heaven someday. I say all that to say: Let’s be a people that doesn’t judge or point and think the worst, when you don’t really know what people are going (through), amen.”
It was part of a message Carr wanted to share about the proliferation of outside opinions in the modern world.
He fired back at those who opined he was embellishing the severity of his injury in order to force a trade or gain some sort of leverage from the Saints, who he said have been fully aware of his status throughout the process.
“I’ve been dealing with people lying about me and I’ve been dealing with them saying this and that and I’m like, ‘Lord, why do I have to continue to deal with this nonsense?’” Carr said. “Why do we always have to have an opinion? Twitter and Instagram has ruined things for some people. Because now all these people think that they have voices that have to be heard. Some people’s voices don’t need to be heard right now.”
Carr spent his first nine NFL seasons with the Raiders and was the franchise’s starting quarterback for its first three years in Las Vegas. He signed a four-year, $150 million contract with the Saints in 2023.
New Orleans drafted Louisville quarterback Tyler Shough in the second round of the 2025 NFL draft Friday.
Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on X.