Carr, Saints WRs still need to get on ‘same page’

Katherine Terrell, ESPN Staff WriterOct 20, 2023, 05:46 PM ET
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NEW ORLEANS — New Orleans Saints coach Dennis Allen said he’s frustrated that quarterback Derek Carr and the wide receivers haven’t been able to get on the same page near the midpoint of the season.

Miscommunication issues have been a focal point of the Saints losses to the Jacksonville Jaguars on Thursday and to the Houston Texans last Sunday. Allen has said multiple times this week that he believes the Saints are too inconsistent, and the offense being out of sync is one of the main reasons.

“That is probably one of the things that I’m most frustrated about, is just that’s part of that inconsistency,” Allen said after the 31-24 loss to the Jaguars. “Somehow, some way, we have to get those guys on the same page. There’s a lot that goes into that.”

The Saints went 0-3 in the red zone last week against the Texans and those problems continued into Thursday night, with the team failing to score a touchdown against the Jaguars until the start of the fourth quarter. The Saints were 3-of-18 on third down against the Jaguars and rank 25th in third-down conversions and 28th in red zone efficiency.

Allen and offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael have questioned whether they need to simplify things after lamenting the inability to get the unit on the same page.

“Our team is too inconsistent right now and that’s what’s causing us problems so we’ll have to work to get that done,” Allen said as the Saints head into a mini-bye week. “We’ve got 10 days to get it done.”

One example of that inconsistency occurred on 3rd-and-5 with 10:44 left in the game. Carr showed visible frustration after an incompletion thrown in wide receiver Chris Olave‘s direction went out of bounds down the sideline.

Allen said Olave’s job was to take off and clear out the defense. The broadcast announcers remarked that Olave appeared to slow down and pull up on the route before the play was over.

“Derek thought there was a good chance to get a one-on-one shot with him on the outside lanes … and Chris didn’t run that route the way it needs to be run,” Allen said. “So that’s what happened. We ended up having a throwaway there.”

Allen mentioned inconsistencies again when asked about an assessment of Olave’s play. The second-year player leads the team with 471 receiving yards but has had some up-and-down performances this season.

“There’s obvious shots of guys that are doing it right, and when they do, it looks really good,” Allen said. “It’s efficient, it’s effective and then there’s plays where it’s not efficient and effective and it’s not being done exactly the way we need it to be done, and that’s what has to be cleaned up.”

Carr appeared to be yelling in Olave’s direction after the play finished. Olave initially went to the bench to review a play on the tablet as Carr talked to running back Alvin Kamara. Carr and Olave then spoke briefly on the sideline.

It was the second time in a week that Carr was seen upset on the sideline and he has admitted he needs to control his emotions better.

“I have been showing my emotions a little too much on my sleeve,” Carr said. “I have got to kind of chill out and that’s me holding myself accountable because that’s not going to help anything. Just trying to be a calming influence in those moments, especially during moments of heightened frustration, I can be that presence to calm everybody down.”

Carr said he apologized to Saints offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael on Sunday for a sideline outburst that wasn’t directed at him, and said his flare-up Thursday was not aimed at Olave.

“I wasn’t talking to Chris, like the past two weeks, I was just talking in general,” Carr said. “There were some things that happened today that led to some pretty big negative plays that should never happened and I think that’s where my frustration came from.”

The Saints have discussed communication at length in the past week, with team captains urging everyone after the Texans loss to look in the mirror and take accountability. But the Saints weren’t able to turn things around on a short week.

“It’s not like we’re not trying to communicate,” wide receiver Michael Thomas said. “There’s no guys that are defiant. I just don’t know if everyone’s definition of communication is the same.”

The one positive the Saints took away from the game was their success with the hurry-up offense and two touchdowns in the fourth quarter. Allen said running up-tempo gave the team a spark and could be used going forward.

Ultimately the team failed to tie the game from the Jaguars’ 6-yard line, leaving Kamara to lament missed opportunities again.

“I think that’s an advantage to the offense. We like getting into that two-minute or up-tempo kind of offense,” Kamara said. ”We have a lot of advantages. I think we left some opportunities out there though. I think there are some matchups that we still have to take advantage of. We have to play matchup ball. It is tough because sometimes I think we are not playing matchup ball. We are just playing.”