Saints wide receiver Chris Olave was released from Carolinas Medical Center and is able to return to New Orleans with his teammates after suffering a hard hit during a 23-22 loss to the Carolina Panthers.
Olave got a concussion in the first quarter after a concerning hit from Panthers safety Xavier Woods. He was placed on a backboard and taken to the hospital for observation, but the Saints confirmed that he could move all his limbs.
The injury happened when Olave was running across the field to catch a pass and was hit by both Woods and cornerback Dane Jackson. Woods seemed to lead with his shoulder, but ended up hitting Olave’s head as he caught the ball.
After the hit, four penalty flags were thrown, and Woods was penalized for unnecessary roughness. Olave was attended to on the field for several minutes as the crowd went silent, with players from both teams gathered around him.
He was moving his arms as he was taken to the locker room.
Former Saints wide receiver Michael Thomas criticized quarterback Derek Carr on social media, saying he panicked and threw a dangerous pass. He shared another post suggesting that Carr should be fined for making a risky throw.
Carr responded to Thomas’ comments, saying, “I have a pit in my stomach anytime one of my teammates goes down because I love them that much.
No matter if I like them or not, and I happen to love Chris Olave. We have a great relationship. I hate, and I don’t like to use that word a lot, but I hate moments like that.”
Carr mentioned that Thomas seems to be the only teammate who hasn’t gotten along with him in the NFL.
“I don’t know what I did to him,” Carr said. “I don’t know why he feels that way. I’m sorry for whatever he’s dealing with to make him feel like he has to do that. But he’s never called me during all of this. My phone number has never changed.
I’ve actually called him on different occasions just to try. Sometimes, you can try as hard as you want and it doesn’t work out. And that’s OK. … But I wish him the best. I hope he gets on a team and does what he wants to do and loves it.”
Woods was not thrown out of the game for the hit. He was fined $11,255 for a late hit on Cincinnati Bengals tight end Mike Gesicki on September 29 during the third quarter of the Bengals’ victory.
After the game, Woods said he didn’t believe it was a malicious hit, but officials told him he was penalized for hitting Olave in the head.
“I lowered my shoulder and I think I hit him in the chest, but I haven’t seen it,” Woods said. “I know I hit him with my shoulders definitely.” Woods mentioned that he planned to reach out to Olave.
“It was nothing dirty on my part, I was just playing football,” Woods said. “Sometimes stuff happens like that.”
