Former Buccaneers QB assesses whether Derek Carr threw “hospital ball” to Chris Olave on purpose

Former Bucs quarterback Chris Simms joined "PFT Live" with Mike Florio on Monday, where he shared his thoughts on the infamous “hospital ball” incident. Despite Derek Carr's backlash over his throw to teammate Chris Olave, Simms showed empathy and a practical perspective.

Assessing the situation, Simms acknowledged that it was a poor throw.

“I made a bad decision on first down," Simms said. "I threw the ball into the mosh pit, and one of my guys got crushed. Doesn’t matter. It was first down. I mean, yeah, it was not a good throw. It was a hospital ball by definition, certainly.” (2:48)

Simms further defended Carr’s actions.

“No, I mean, you know, to think Derek Carr is trying to do that deliberately or anything. We know that’s not the case.”

Derek Carr threw a poor ball to Chris Olave

The incident occurred in the matchup between the Panthers and Saints on Sunday. Both teams were facing losing streaks, with the Panthers holding only one win and the Saints two. Additionally, the Saints had scored 45+ points in each of their first two games, making them the favorites going into this game.

However, about eight minutes into the first quarter at 1st & 10, Carr made a high throw that put Olave in a difficult position. As Olave attempted the catch, he was sandwiched between CB Jansen and safety Xavier Woods, resulting in a brutal collision.

Olave immediately fell to the ground and was carried off on a stretcher due to a concussion. This marked his third injury scare of the season after missing earlier games for similar issues.

Michael Thomas criticized Derek Carr for the throw

Carr’s former teammate, Michael Thomas, shared his reaction to the throw on X (formerly Twitter).

Thomas and Carr share a fraught history, as Thomas’ time with the Saints ended abruptly due to an injury following a short throw from Carr. Thomas, still harboring resentment, took this latest incident personally. Meanwhile, Carr acknowledged it was an unfortunate situation but part of the game. He also clarified that it wasn’t intentional.