Saints news: Carr explains MJ celebration, Taysom Hill update, Allen drinking the Kool-Aid

Taysom Hill avoided a worst-case injury scenario

Taysom Hill is the ultimate toy for New Orleans Saints first-year offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak. He can thank former head coach Sean Payton, who claimed the versatile wunderkind on waivers just before the 2017 season after Green Bay cut the undrafted free agent from BYU.

The former BYU quarterback can play Wildcat quarterback very well and start in a pinch. He has thrown for 2,348 yards and 11 touchdowns in his NFL career. He has caught 76 passes as a tight end or back for 758 yards and 11 touchdowns. He has rushed for 2,212 yards and 27 touchdowns. He has returned kicks for 447 yards and made 16 tackles on special teams.

Hill has rushed just eight times for 53 yards this season for the Saints (2-0) and caught only two passes, but Hill has long been one of the team's most popular and exciting players. And the Saint Nation is worried. Hill was taken to a hospital in the Dallas area after leaving the field in the second half with what was called a chest injury. He returned to New Orleans with the team but missed practice Wednesday.

That was a bit of a surprise as Saints coach Dennis Allen seemed to say he was fine on Tuesday.

"Taysom's doing good. He feels good," Allen said. "He had some more imaging today, but I think we avoided anything real serious."

Asked exactly what the injury is, Allen was coy. "We're just going to go with chest. That's what it's going to say on the injury report, yes."

Asked what the imaging is checking, Allen said, "That would be a better question for all the medical people. It's a chest injury. It's nothing that's serious. He'll be in the rehab process just like everybody else is and kind of go from there."

Allen was asked what made this not-so-serious injury serious enough to send Hill to the hospital Sunday when lots of imaging and testing ability is available at NFL games in the medical tents and locker rooms?

"Look, I think sometimes there's things that are precautionary," Allen said. "And you want to make sure everything's OK. So, we had whatever the normal medical procedure is. He's back with us. We'll just monitor him throughout the week, see what he can do, see what he can't do and go from there."

Derek Carr: "I'm a dancer" like Michael Jackson?

Saints quarterback Derek Carr seemed perturbed that inquiring reporters who wanted to know about his Michael Jackson end zone celebration dance at Dallas Sunday didn't realize he was a veteran dancer.

"I'm a dancer," he insisted. "Again, people don't know a lot of stuff about me."

Carr kicked his leg out and grabbed his crotch, mimicking the late pop icon after a 1-yard quarterback sneak for a touchdown and a 35-13 lead with 39 seconds to go in the first half.

One reporter asked how much time he spent in the mirror practicing the move.

"Not much time in front of the mirror," he shot back in disbelief. "You know, I'm a dancer in my day. Don't let the four kids fool you. I had to lure their mom (Heather) in somehow. You know what I mean?"

Carr's older brothers David, a former NFL quarterback and first-round pick, and Darren convinced him to try the dance on national TV.

"They've seen me all the time at weddings, or birthdays, music," he said. "I'm always dancing. So, one time, I hit the MJ. And they're like, 'Bro, you got to do that when you score one time.' So, I did it. They made an edit, and I posted it."

Another reporter asked if Carr, 33, had to explain what he was doing to backup quarterbacks Jake Haener, 25, and Spener Rattler, 23.

"That's a really good point," said Carr, who has often joked about the age gap with his backups. "But to their credit, they knew who he (Jackson) was. That was a good question. I should've used that."

Kool-Aid McKinstry impresses Dennis Allen

Maybe injured cornerback Marshon Lattimore pleaded with Saints coach Dennis Allen before and during the Dallas game to play because he knows how good rookie Kool-Aid McKinstry is.

McKinstry started in place of Lattimore (hamstring) and played very well, Allen said.

"Fundatmentally, technique-wise, I thought he graded out really well," Allen said. "I thought he did a good job up on the line of scrimmage, press coverage, getting his hands on receivers, running with receivers down the field."

McKinstry, a second round pick out of Alabama at No. 41 overall, made five tackles with a pass defense. He may have gone in the first round had a foot injury not been discovered at the Scouting Combine in February.

"We felt we were getting a bargain at that price," Allen said Tuesday. "He's smart. He's instinctive. He's fundamentally sound in what he does from a coverage standpoint."

He played for defensive back guru Nick Saban at Alabama.

"For his first time out, I was really pleased with what I saw," Allen said. "His aggressiveness and his tackling and his willingness to get involved in contact was an improvement. It was good to see."

So, is Lattimore worried about his job. He did return to practice Wednesday on a limited basis and may play Sunday against 1-1 Philadelphia in the Superdome (Noon central, FOX).

Allen said he could've played Lattimore last week but didn't want to risk it and create a four-week injury.

Defensive tackle Khalen Saunders (calf) and linebacker D'Marco Jackson (calf) missed practice Wednesday.