CHARLOTTE, North Carolina — Saints wide receiver Chris Olave was released from Carolinas Medical Center and allowed to return to New Orleans Sunday night with his teammates after taking a hard hit on a pass over the middle on a 23-22 loss to the Carolina Panthers.

The throw prompted Saints quarterback Derek Carr to defend himself after the game following criticism from a former teammate.

Olave suffered a concussion in the first quarter following a scary hit by Panthers safety Xavier Woods, resulting in him being placed on a backboard and taken to the hospital for observations.

The Saints said Olave had use of all his limbs.

Olave was crossing the middle on a pass route when he was caught by Woods and cornerback Dane Jackson. Woods appeared to take advantage with his shoulder, but collided with Olave’s head while trying to catch the ball on the run.

Four flags were immediately waved and Woods was penalized for unnecessary roughness.

Olave remained on the field for several minutes being attended to by the coaches while the crowd fell silent as players from both teams gathered around him.

He was waving his arms as they carried him to the locker room.

Former Saints wide receiver Michael Thomas immediately criticized Carr on social media, saying “the guy is scary and he just panics and throws the ball.”

He also reposted another message on X suggesting Carr should be fined for throwing a “hospital pass.”

Carr spoke for more than four minutes about Thomas’ comments after the game.

“I get a knot in my stomach every time one of my teammates goes down because I love them so much,” Carr said. “It doesn’t 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 really like using that word, but I hate moments like that.”

Carr said Thomas seems to be the only teammate who doesn’t get 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 you’re going through to make you feel like you have to do that. But he never called me. Through all of this, my phone number has never changed. In fact, I have called him on different occasions just to try. Sometimes you can try all you want and it doesn’t work. But I wish him the best. I hope he is part of a team and does what he wants and likes.”

Woods was not ejected for the hit.

Woods was fined $11,255 for a late hit on Cincinnati Bengals tight end Mike Gesicki on Sept. 29 during the third quarter of the Bengals’ victory.

Woods said after the game that 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 definitely hit him with my shoulders.”

Woods said he planned to contact Olave.

“It wasn’t anything dirty on my part, I was just playing football,” Woods said. “Sometimes things like that happen.”

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