Banged up, slumping Saints now face uncertainty at QB as they try to end a 3-game skid

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The once-surging New Orleans Saints are now slumping and unsure when quarterback Derek Carr will be able to play again following his oblique injury during the club's third straight loss.

Carr left Monday night's loss at Kansas City with a left oblique injury, and coach Dennis Allen did not provide any medical updates on Tuesday when he spoke with reporters after analyzing video of New Orleans' latest setback.

Carr pledged that he’d do everything he could to be ready by this Sunday, but the NFL Network has reported that Carr is expected to miss miss multiple games.

In Carr's absence, the Saints could start either Jake Haener, a 2023 fourth-round draft pick out of Fresno State, or rookie Spencer Rattler, a fifth-round draft choice out of South Carolina.

Rattler has yet to play a snap in a regular-season game.

Haener has had mop-up duty several times and came in for Carr late in the fourth quarter against Kansas City, completing 2 of 7 passes for 17 yards.

Allen said Haener “did fine,” considering the circumstances.

“He was under duress a lot,” Allen said. “It got to that point in the game where they were kind of cutting loose on the pass rush. I don’t think there were a lot of opportunities for him.”

While the 26-13 score in Kansas City represented New Orleans' first loss by more than three points this season, it also belied how dominant the defending champion Chiefs really were — despite some key injuries of their own.

The Saints possessed the ball for a mere one-third of the game (20:04), were more than doubled up in total yards (460 to 220) and had half as many first downs (14) as the Chiefs did (28).

“Obviously we played a good football team in a hostile environment and we didn't fare well," Allen said. “That just tells us we've got a lot of work to do.”

While Allen said the whole club was frustrated over its "lack of ability to really get anything going offensively," the third-year Saints coach stopped short of foreshadowing significant personnel changes in Week 6.

The coaching staff needs to consider: “What's our part in that?” Allen said. "How can we put our guys in better positions to have success?”

One thing Allen wants to avoid is a locker room full of disgruntled players who start pointing fingers and fracturing.

“We've just got to stick together as a group," Allen said. “The only way you can turn things around is to be a united front.”

New Orleans' defense has remained pretty resilient in the red zone, holding Kansas City to just two TDs on seven possessions that ended at or inside the Saints 20-yard line. The other five red-zone possessions resulted in four field goals and an interception.

The Saints' running game, which averaged 185 yards in Weeks 1 and 2, hit its lowest point this season at Kansas City, gaining a meager 46 yards on 15 carries.

Defensive tackle Khalen Saunders had a strong showing in his second game this season since returning from a calf injury. His highlights included his first career interception on a tipped ball in New Orleans' end zone. Saunders not only stopped Kansas City from scoring, but also returned the ball 37 yards to ignite a touchdown drive that briefly pulled the Saints within a field goal in the second half.

Offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak might have been the most popular person in New Orleans through Week 2, when the Saints had scored 91 points and had blown out their first two opponents.

Since then, his offense has sputtered.

His game plans might have been hampered by multiple injuries on the offensive line. In any event, scoring has plummeted to an average of 16.3 points per game during New Orleans' three-game skid.

“It’s a difficult thing to do to have that many changes on your offensive line," Allen said. "And yet, we’ve got to figure out ways that we can still move the ball.”

In addition to Carr, the Saints lost safety Will Harris to a hamstring injury.

It remains unclear how soon versatile tight end Taysom Hill might return from a rib injury. Linebacker Pete Werner (hamstring) also did not travel for Monday night's game.

29 — The difference between the number of offensive plays run by the Chiefs (80) and the Saints (51) on Monday night.

The Saints return to New Orleans for a pair of home games in the span of five days. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who traveled to New Orleans on Tuesday to escape the path of Hurricane Milton, play at the Superdome on Sunday.

Former Saints coach Sean Payton — the only coach to bring New Orleans a Super Bowl title — brings Denver into the dome on the following Thursday night.

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New Orleans Saints quarterback Derek Carr speaks during a news conference following an NFL football game against the Kansas City Chiefs Monday, Oct. 7, 2024, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Ed Zurga)

New Orleans Saints quarterback Jake Haener (3) drops back to pass during the second half of an NFL football game against the Kansas City Chiefs Monday, Oct. 7, 2024, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Ed Zurga)

New Orleans Saints tight end Foster Moreau, left, catches a touchdown pass as Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Leo Chenal (54) defends during the second half of an NFL football game Monday, Oct. 7, 2024, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Ed Zurga)

New Orleans Saints head coach Dennis Allen pauses during a news conference following an NFL football game against the Kansas City Chiefs Monday, Oct. 7, 2024, in Kansas City, Mo. The Chiefs won 26-13. (AP Photo/Ed Zurga)

Banged up, slumping Saints now face uncertainty at QB as they try to end a 3-game skid

Banged up, slumping Saints now face uncertainty at QB as they try to end a 3-game skid

New Orleans Saints quarterback Derek Carr (4) throws over Kansas City Chiefs nose tackle Mike Pennel (69) during the first half of an NFL football game Monday, Oct. 7, 2024, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump on Friday offered a public show of support for Pete Hegseth, his embattled choice to lead the Defense Department, whose confirmation by the Senate is in doubt as he faces questions over allegations of excessive drinking, sexual assault and his views on women in combat.

Hegseth, a former Fox News Host, Army National Guard major and combat veteran, spent much of the week on Capitol Hill trying to salvage his Cabinet nomination and privately reassure Republican senators that he is fit to lead Trump’s Pentagon.

“Pete Hegseth is doing very well,” Trump posted on his social media site. “He will be a fantastic, high energy, Secretary of Defense." The president added that "Pete is a WINNER, and there is nothing that can be done to change that!!!”

The pitched nomination battle over Hegseth is emerging not only as a debate about the best person to lead the Pentagon, but an inflection point for a MAGA movement that appears to be relishing a public fight over its hardline push for a more masculine military and an end to the “woke-ism" of diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.

Trump’s allies are forcefully rallying around the embattled Hegseth – the Heritage Foundation’s political arm is promising to spend $1 million to shore up his nomination – as he vows to stay in the fight, as long as the president-elect wants him to.

“We’re not abandoning this nomination,” Vice-President-elect JD Vance said as he toured post-hurricane North Carolina.

“Pete Hegseth is going to get his hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee, not a sham hearing before the American media," Vance said. He said he had spoken with GOP senators and he believes Hegseth will be confirmed. "We are completely behind him.”

The effort has become a test of Trump’s clout and of how far loyalty for the president-elect goes with Republican senators who have concerns about his nominees. Two of Trump's other choices have stepped aside as they faced intense scrutiny: former congressman Matt Gaetz, his first choice for attorney general, and Chad Chronister, a Florida sheriff who was Trump’s first choice to lead the Drug Enforcement Administration.

The president's son Donald J. Trump Jr., also made a show of support for Hegseth on Friday, part of a full-court MAGA press.

“If you’re a GOP Senator who voted for Lloyd Austin, but criticize @PeteHegseth, then maybe you’re in the wrong political party!” he wrote on X. referring to President Joe Biden's defense secretary.

Thanking the president-elect for the support, Hegseth posted on social media, “Like you, we will never back down.”

Hegseth has promised not to drink on the job and told lawmakers he never engaged in sexual misconduct, even as his professional views on female troops have also come under intensifying scrutiny. He said as recently as last month that women “straight up” should not serve in combat.

He picked up one important endorsement from Republican Sen. Katie Britt of Alabama, whose support was seen as a potentially powerful counterweight to the cooler reception Hegseth had received from Sen. Joni Ernst, herself a former Army National Guard lieutenant colonel.

“Huge. Thanks to Katie for her leadership,” Vance posted on social media.

Ernst, who is also a sexual assault survivor, stopped short of an endorsement after her meeting with Hegseth this week. She said she appreciates his military service and they “had a frank and thorough conversation.”

On Friday, Trump put out the statement in response to coverage saying he had lost faith in Hegseth, according to a person familiar with his thinking who was not authorized to discuss it publicly.

The president-elect and his team have been pleased to see Hegseth putting up a fight and his performance this week reiterates why he was chosen, the person said. They believe he can still be confirmed.

If Hegseth goes down, Trump's team believes the defeat would empower others to spread what they cast as “vicious lies” against every candidate Trump chooses.

Still, Trump's transition team has been looking at potential replacements if Hegseth's nomination cannot move forward, including former presidential rival Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

DeSantis plans to attend the Army-Navy football game with Trump on Dec. 14, according to a person familiar with the Florida governor’s plans who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity to discuss them before a public announcement.

And DeSantis and Trump had spoken about the defense secretary post when they saw each other Tuesday at a memorial service for sheriff deputies in West Palm Beach, Florida, according people familiar with the matter who said Trump was interested in DeSantis for the post, and the governor was receptive.

At the same time, DeSantis also is poised to select a replacement for the expected Senate vacancy to be created by Marco Rubio becoming secretary of state, and Trump’s daughter-in-law Lara Trump is seen as the preferred choice by those in Trump’s orbit.

Despite a weeklong push of private Capitol Hill meetings, Hegseth is facing resistance from senators as reports have emerged about his past, including the revelation that he made a settlement payment after being accused of a sexual assault that he denies.

The New Yorker cited what it described as a whistleblower report and other documents about his time leading a veterans advocacy group, Concerned Veterans for America, that alleged multiple incidents of alcohol intoxication at work events, inappropriate behavior around female staffers and financial mismanagement.

The New York Times obtained an email from his mother Penelope from 2018, in which she confronted him about mistreating women after he impregnated his current wife while he was married to his second wife. She went on “Fox & Friends” this week to defend her son.

Trump ally Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., said senators are judging “Pete for who he is today.”

In many ways the increasingly pitched battle resembles the political and culture wars that exploded over Trump’s pick of Brett Kavanaugh for the Supreme Court during his first term at the White House.

Kavanaugh had also faced allegations of sexual assault that he strenuously denied, but Republicans rallied to his side and turned a tide of opposition into a more sympathetic view of the Supreme Court nominee as the victim of a liberal-led smear campaign. He eventually won confirmation.

While Hegseth was still fighting for votes in the Senate, he did appear to make incremental progress with some Republicans who had expressed concerns about the reports of his drinking, in particular.

“I’m not going to make any decision regarding Pete Hegseth’s nomination based on anonymous sources,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.

North Dakota Sen. Kevin Cramer said of the allegations against Hegseth, “I have no reason to doubt him any more than believe somebody else.”

Still, Cramer indicated he could still change his mind. A background check “will be informative.”

Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., said after meeting with Hegseth that he wanted to see how he does in a hearing but “he went a long way” toward getting his support.

Colvin reported from New York. Associated Press writers Darlene Superville in Fariview, N.C., Michelle L. Price in New York, Adriana Gomez Licon in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, and Mary Clare Jalonick, Kevin Freking and Lisa Mascaro in Washington contributed to this report.

Pete Hegseth, center right, President-elect Donald Trump's nominee to be defense secretary, joined by his wife Jennifer Rauchet, arrives to meet with Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump's nominee to be defense secretary, responds to reporters during a meeting with Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump's nominee to be defense secretary, responds to reporters during a meeting with Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)