Saints quarterback Derek Carr left Monday night’s loss early with an oblique injury and said afterward that he wanted to keep playing but physically couldn’t throw the football.

“Not good, but we’ll get an MRI and stuff tomorrow and find out,” Carr said when asked how he felt after the game. “I would have done anything to stay there and keep fighting, but I couldn’t.”

Carr said he felt something in his oblique and then couldn’t make a throwing motion. He is unsure of the nature of the injury and unsure if he will be able to play against the Buccaneers on Sunday.

“I just don’t know yet,” Carr said. “It wasn’t like pain, it wasn’t like dealing with pain; if you can handle the pain, you can go. I literally just can’t do what I want to do. It’s clearly fresh and it just happened. You know me, I’m going to do everything I can to make sure I’m there on Sunday.”

The Saints started the season 2-0 and have looked as good as any team in the NFL. Now they have lost three in a row and are a game behind both the Buccaneers and Falcons, and a loss on Sunday would be a major blow to their playoff hopes. Carr wants to be out there, but on a short week that’s not a sure thing.