The New Orleans Saints opened up the NFL's Week 7 slate against the Denver Broncos on "Thursday Night Football." The downside of having such a quick turnaround comes with the upside of having 10 days off until the next game.

With all the injuries on the team, New Orleans could use the extended layoff to get healthy before facing the Los Angeles Chargers. They could really use a bye week, but that's not for another month.

It appears we'll see Spencer Rattler, but Dennis Allen does seem optimistic about Derek Carr playing against the Carolina Panthers in Week 9.

“Do I think he's going to be ready for the Charger game? I'm not sure. I think that's questionable. I think it's certainly very likely for the following week,” Allen said.

The decision all comes down to the evaluation of Carr over the next few days. The plan is to "see how he does over the next three or four days, and that'll probably give us a much clearer picture in terms of his availability for this weekend.”

If Carr shows solid mobility, there's a chance he'll return after the break. We'll likely get a gauge on that early next week.

This article originally appeared on Saints Wire: Saints starting QB 'very likely' to return in Week 9 vs. Panthers