The Misfit Posted March 22, 2006 Share Posted March 22, 2006 He held a press conference on his progress for the first time today If his rehabilitation were a football game, Carson Palmer said this afternoon said he is through the first quarter and heading into the second quarter. “I have the extension back in the leg. Now we’re moving onto strength and conditioning,” said Palmer, the Bengals quarterback who spoke to the media today for the first time since undergoing knee surgery. “Then it is the running and jumping,” he said. Palmer had surgery Jan. 10 in Houston to replace two torn knee ligaments. Palmer suffered tears to both the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and medial collateral ligament (MCL) in his left knee. He walked into the Paul Brown Stadium interview room without the aid of crutches. There was no sign of a limp and little visible evidence of atrophy. Palmer had been working in California and has switched his base to Cincinnati. He returned two weeks ago. “Everything is going as scheduled and planned,” he said. “I’m just starting to get to the point where I can push weight around.” Palmer said he still expects to be the team’s starting quarterback on opening day but can’t predict the future. “I don’t have a crystal ball,” he said. “But, no question, that’s what I’m expecting. I still expect to play Game 1 in the preseason.” Palmer displayed the type of aw-shucks attitude that has endeared him to fans, who have flooded him with get-well wishes ranging from 10-foot high cards and pictures drawn by pre-school students. “I had knee surgery,” Palmer said. “It’s not like I have cancer or lost a limb.” Palmer was hit from the side on his first pass play by Steelers defensive end Kimo von Oelhoffen in the 31-17 loss in the AFC wildcard playoff game Jan. 8. Palmer said he has not spoken to von Oelhoffen, who has since singed as a free agent with the Jets. “Football is a very physical game,” Palmer said. “Things happen. I don’t hold a grudge.” Though Palmer lobbied for the Bengals to re-sign backup quarterback Jon Kitna, Kitna is gone. He signed a four-year contract Monday with the Detroit Lions and has started working out in their offseason program. The Bengals did sign journeyman quarterback Doug Johnson in January and have two healthy quarterbacks, Johnson and Craig Krenzel, under contract. The club is looking for a third quarterback but has failed to land either Sage Rosenfels or Brian Griese, two free agents who signed with Houston and Chicago, respectively. The Bengals’ focus for a quarterback now appears to be zeroing in on former Rams backup Jamie Martin and former Steelers starter/backup Tommy Maddox. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duchess Jack Posted March 22, 2006 Share Posted March 22, 2006 Good news. Shame that he got hurt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteelBunz Posted March 22, 2006 Share Posted March 22, 2006 Yep....that's great news. Carson is a class act.....I hope to be able to watch him for YEARS to come. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhippens Posted March 22, 2006 Share Posted March 22, 2006 thanks for the update! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gdawg Posted March 22, 2006 Share Posted March 22, 2006 Glad to hear things are going well for Mr. Palmer. From what I can tell he's one of the good guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randall Posted March 22, 2006 Share Posted March 22, 2006 2 months and he has extenson in his leg. Doesn't sound good for those of us who don't have him on our fantasy teams. In one league he went in the 2nd round. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chiefjay Posted March 22, 2006 Share Posted March 22, 2006 I'll stear clear this year. He should be careful too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonorator Posted March 22, 2006 Share Posted March 22, 2006 :praying: hang in there carson! he is definitely one of the good guys ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Irish Doggy Posted March 22, 2006 Share Posted March 22, 2006 All is well. [/bacon] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Menudo Posted March 22, 2006 Share Posted March 22, 2006 :praying: hang in there carson! he is definitely one of the good guys ... 1382555[/snapback] Don't worry, if he isn't back for the start of the season, apparently, you might have Tommy Maddox to keep the ship afloat......... In all seriousness, I'm glad to see that Palmer is recovering well Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bengal Mania Posted March 23, 2006 Share Posted March 23, 2006 More detailed, from Bengals.com: (Bolded items are by me) Palmer's glass half full By GEOFF HOBSON March 22, 2006 He hasn’t been bowling and his left leg isn’t a stump and he’s not retiring and he’s not going to clip Jon Kitna’s No. 3. Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer, describing parts of his first quarter of rehab as ahead of schedule, sifted the Cover 2 of rumor and innuendo Wednesday in his first news conference since the Jan. 10 reconstruction of his left knee. But he did say one news item was true. He did shoot craps in Las Vegas. And trying to guess when he’ll be cleared to play and be able to start is a crapshoot. “I’m not very realistic,” Palmer said with what he described as his half-full glass mentality. “I expect to be starting Game One. I expect to play the preseason. It’s my first knee surgery. I understand there are complications and setbacks for one or two weeks. I’m not worried about all of that. All I’m worried about doing is what I can in here every day and getting ready for our opener. “If I had a crystal ball and I could find out the exact day I’m going to be 100 percent and cleared to play, then we wouldn’t be going through this backup quarterback thing that we’re trying to go through right now. But there is no crystal ball. There is no way of saying, ‘This is the exact date.’ I’m getting ready and expecting to play Opening Day.” Palmer, just three months removed from his first Pro Bowl berth, a $96 million extension, and his 26th birthday, looked good Wednesday. He showed up with no crutches and barely had a limp as he took a break in the middle of one of his four-and-a-half-hour rehab sessions at Paul Brown Stadium. After spending the first nine weeks of his rehab near his southern California home, Palmer is now at PBS for the duration. He spends three days a week in the weight room with strength coaches Chip Morton and Ray Oliver working on his upper body strength and his right leg. At all other times he’s working on the injured left knee with his two-man team of therapists, Bengals trainer Billy Brooks and University of Cincinnati football trainer Bob Mangine as they go through a different set of 40 exercises every day. In true upbeat Palmer fashion, he says he has yet to have a bad day despite the advice he’s heard of having some discouraging days when he’ll think he’ll never make it back. “I’m probably through the first quarter,” said Palmer, breaking his rehab into four quarters. “The first quarter is getting the extension (range of motion) back in your leg and I got that fairly quickly compared to most surgeries. The second phase is strength and conditioning and then I move into running and jumping and than I’ll be ready to go. (After 10 weeks) I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be.” Return to the field still up in the air Of course, when he’ll be ready is the question no one can answer. It won’t be for the May and June minicamps and it most likely won’t be for the start of training camp. Don’t bother to ask when he’ll be able to start running, or dropping back and passing, or even when he’ll start throwing since he hasn’t thrown one since the heave to Chris Henry. “I don’t know,” he said. “I was told eight to 12 months. Everyone is different.” He also can’t explain the mystery surrounding his surgery. The day after the Jan. 10 procedure, his surgeon, Lonnie Paulos of Houston, was quoted by several media outlets saying a variety of things, ranging from the observation that Palmer tore four ligaments instead of two, that the knee was “shredded," and that he suffered major kneecap damage. Paulos contended he was misunderstood and Palmer agreed. “The whole thing got blown way out of proportion like a lot of things in sports,” Palmer said. “All I know is I woke up from the surgery and the doctor was in there and Billy Brooks was in there and they said everything went great, the surgery was a success, and they expected a full recovery.” While Palmer appreciates the severity of the injury, he wonders about the doomsayers (“It’s not like I’ve got cancer. I didn’t lose a limb. It’s just knee surgery,” he said.) and realizes the major obstacle is probably going to be in the mind instead of the body. “I always felt when I played I never really worried about what’s going on around me. Hopefully I can have that feeling back when I play again,” Palmer said. “That’s why I’m doing what I’m doing now. So I can get all the problems with my knee out of my head by the time I step on the field. All the hard work and rehab and strengthening things I’m doing. By the time I step on the field at 100 percent, I don’t want to be worried, ‘Is my knee strong again? Is my knee ready?’ I want to be 100 percent and be ready to play like I was the first play of that Pittsburgh game.” The play that devastated Bengaldom. (Getty Images) The second play, of course, is when it happened. Back in the Jan. 8 Wild Card playoff game when Steelers defensive end Kimo von Oelhoffen crashed into the side of his knee after he had just flung the longest postseason pass in Bengals history 66 yards. He tore the anterior cruciate ligament and medial collateral ligament in a devastating end that marred PBS’s first playoff game and season. But on Wednesday he reiterated what he said the day after the game. Even though some teammates questioned von Oelhoffen’s hit, he doesn’t. He hasn’t spoken to him and doesn’t see the need. “Football is a very physical game. Things happen. I don’t hold a grudge,” Palmer said. “I don’t think he meant to do it. Whether he did or not, I don’t care. It’s part of the game. These things happen. It’s a freak accident.” Palmer has seen the tape of the play and he painted what amounted to a seascape of emotions the images bring back. He doesn’t remember the play itself, but the feeling as the truck in which he was riding pulled away from the stadium in the third quarter. Palmer lay across the back seat watching the lights of the stadium and when he rolled down the window, he heard the crowd. “I don’t remember the play. That’s not in my head,” he said. “I just remember the feeling not being there and not finishing the game.” Palmer does remember the animosity he has for the Steelers. He said he was so “pissed” that he couldn’t watch them pull away from Seattle as he rooted hard for the Seahawks (“I couldn’t believe all the things that went on in that game,” he said.) and he turned off the Super Bowl before it was over. But he did happen to catch Steelers head coach Bill Cowher’s act when he parodied the Bengals Who-Dey chant at the Super Bowl parade. “When he started doing that, I was still pissed they won,” Palmer said. “But I realized he might have said something he shouldn’t have said and that it will fuel our fire a little more and make us a little bit hungrier to beat them. “I love it. Rivalry games are the most fun games to play in. You just can’t stand the guys on the other sideline and it brings out that more much emotion and makes the game that much more fun.” Since the media circus following his surgery, Bengals ringmaster Marvin Lewis cut off all interviews with Palmer, a move Palmer endorsed because he said when the club asked him if he wanted to talk about his injury every day for the next three months, he said, “No.” But he also understands why people want to know all about it. “I feel like I’m a big part of this team,” he said in typical understatement. Overwhelming support If he didn’t know, he’s been reminded in the 74 days since the hit. Palmer said there are so many times when wife Shaelyn opens an envelope with a get well card from a school group. He’s heard from kids of all ages, starting with preschool and ending with college kids who have suffered knee injuries in intramurals. He says he’s received a couple of 10-foot greeting cards as well as “hilarious" drawings of Bengals like Chad and Rudi Johnson from the little ones. They have sent them to the stadium, to both his houses, to his agents, to his rehab facility in California, to family members. Everywhere. “Very overwhelming. It’s really touching to me and my family,” Palmer said. “It just shows the loyalty and support in this city and from the Bengals fans. It makes you that much more excited and makes you want to work that much harder to get back. I feel like I’ve really brought something positive into their lives and it’s so special for me. “It shows the support this team has and the love of the game and love for the team this city has. It makes me appreciate it and appreciate our fan base.” Affirming his position as the Everyman Superstar, Palmer made sure he used the news conference to make an announcement. He has replaced his local celebrity golf tournament with a June cornhole tournament he hopes can be staged at PBS featuring several of his teammates. He admitted he can’t golf and by then he’ll be able to toss the bags. Like the golf tourney, all proceeds are earmarked for a group of abandoned and abused children................... (A lot more to the article)........ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Not gonna re-raise the heated discussion again. Just happy to see the fire is in the kid's belly. Also, as has been said many times on this board (by Steelers and Bengals fans), if Palmer does in fact come all the way back, this could be a great rivalry for long time! F--- baseball season! Let's get going on football again!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackass Posted March 23, 2006 Share Posted March 23, 2006 i don't think he'll ever be the same player. hopefully he can become a decent to very good qb again though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bengal Mania Posted March 23, 2006 Share Posted March 23, 2006 (edited) i don't think he'll ever be the same player. hopefully he can become a decent to very good qb again though. 1385037[/snapback] While I have an internal "anxiety" about his future, I don't agree with your statement. He doesn't run. He only needs his knee healthy enough to move in the pocket while he reads the def and throws. Getting it reinjured is a legit concern, but... Unless either a) his knee complete fails him (doesn't recover enough to play, which I think is doubtful), or b ) he gets an insurmountable mental block (extremely doubtful), I see him being every bit as good as he was. I think he's still on track to be amoung the best 3 QBs in the league in a couple years. How much he's set back this year (from growing as a QB, furthering his knowledge of Def's and of his offense, rust from inactivity, etc) is definitely open for debate, although I think anyone will say it's a setback (time-wise). But unless the knee absolutely fails, he'll be back in the ProBowl in 2007 for sure (I mean the ProBowl after the 2007 season. I do think he's gonna lose a year of very top shelf performance this year) Edited March 23, 2006 by Bengal Mania Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muck Posted March 24, 2006 Share Posted March 24, 2006 More detailed, from Bengals.com:(Bolded items are by me) Palmer's glass half full By GEOFF HOBSON March 22, 2006 <snip> Affirming his position as the Everyman Superstar, Palmer made sure he used the news conference to make an announcement. He has replaced his local celebrity golf tournament with a June cornhole tournament he hopes can be staged at PBS featuring several of his teammates. <snip> 1384851[/snapback] Anyone shed some light on what a "cornhole tournament" is? Are Jeff Garcia, Cade NcNown and Johnny Morton invited? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bengal Mania Posted March 24, 2006 Share Posted March 24, 2006 Anyone shed some light on what a "cornhole tournament" is? Are Jeff Garcia, Cade NcNown and Johnny Morton invited? 1385560[/snapback] Cornhole (in the conservative city of Cincinnati) is a bean bag (actually, the bags were originally filled w/ corn) tossing game. Two-inclined boards ~35 feet apart, a small hole in the board. 2-man teams take turns tossing the bean bags, won't go into the scoring system. Actually, a very popular game here. Admittedly (in this day in age), an unfortunate name for the game, but fun nonetheless. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGrunt Posted March 24, 2006 Share Posted March 24, 2006 i don't think he'll ever be the same player. hopefully he can become a decent to very good qb again though. 1385037[/snapback] Um... Carson Palmer is a QB who doesn't need to run that often. Worse things have happened to players where rushing is their primary task. If you don't recall, in 2001 Jamal Lewis sustained a similar (maybe not AS punishing) injury to his knee; then in 2003 he became the NFL rushing champion. You'd be suprised how technologically advanced medical care has gone in the last decade. Palmer will be just fine... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muck Posted March 24, 2006 Share Posted March 24, 2006 Cornhole (in the conservative city of Cincinnati) is a bean bag (actually, the bags were originally filled w/ corn) tossing game. Two-inclined boards ~35 feet apart, a small hole in the board. 2-man teams take turns tossing the bean bags, won't go into the scoring system. Actually, a very popular game here. Admittedly (in this day in age), an unfortunate name for the game, but fun nonetheless. 1385588[/snapback] I've played something similar before (with both bean-bags and washers), but with a VERY different name. :shocked: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Swerski Posted March 24, 2006 Share Posted March 24, 2006 i don't think he'll ever be the same player. hopefully he can become a decent to very good qb again though. 1385037[/snapback] I don't recall Trent Green's torn ACL in '99 destroying his career. I don't know if Palmer will be ready for the season opener, but I seriously doubt that this will have a long-term negative effect on his career. What it may have a negative effect is my fantasy team. I need to make a decision of whether to keep him or not. While I really like him in the long-term, I may just trade him and use the draft slot on a second RB. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGrunt Posted March 25, 2006 Share Posted March 25, 2006 I don't recall Trent Green's torn ACL in '99 destroying his career. I don't know if Palmer will be ready for the season opener, but I seriously doubt that this will have a long-term negative effect on his career. What it may have a negative effect is my fantasy team. I need to make a decision of whether to keep him or not. While I really like him in the long-term, I may just trade him and use the draft slot on a second RB. 1386996[/snapback] I dunno, I've got him on my fantasy team and he could very well be the turn-around or suprise player of the year next year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sox Posted March 25, 2006 Share Posted March 25, 2006 It was very classy of Kimo to call him and wish him well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGrunt Posted March 26, 2006 Share Posted March 26, 2006 I still think everyone (well, maybe not EVERYONE) but most people will be suprised at how effective Palmer is next year. He might not start the first 1-4 games but he'll be in good form by week 10. I see another playoff run in the Bengals future... okay next year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGrunt Posted March 26, 2006 Share Posted March 26, 2006 Cornhole (in the conservative city of Cincinnati) is a bean bag (actually, the bags were originally filled w/ corn) tossing game. Two-inclined boards ~35 feet apart, a small hole in the board. 2-man teams take turns tossing the bean bags, won't go into the scoring system. Actually, a very popular game here. Admittedly (in this day in age), an unfortunate name for the game, but fun nonetheless. 1385588[/snapback] So.... I take it niether Jeff Garcia, Cade NcNown or Johnny Morton are invited then? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Swerski Posted March 26, 2006 Share Posted March 26, 2006 I dunno, I've got him on my fantasy team and he could very well be the turn-around or suprise player of the year next year. 1387506[/snapback] That's unlikely, given that it's difficult to improve on 3,800 yds and 32 TDs. Also remember that he blew his knee out in January, not early or halfway through the season. I wouldn't be surprised if he's held out of most of the pre-season and has a couple poor games in September due to rust. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chief Dick Posted March 26, 2006 Share Posted March 26, 2006 (edited) When I tore my ACL, my doctor told me it would take 6 months after surgery and I would be back playing soccer without a knee bracec. It took me exactly 6 months to rehab and sure as heck I was back on the field playing, my knee stronger than before. And in soccer you tend to do a little more running and sharp cutting during the game. So in Palmers case, you know he is rehabbing a heck of a lot harder than I ever did, so I wouldn't even worry about it. Edited March 26, 2006 by Chief Dick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chavez Posted March 26, 2006 Share Posted March 26, 2006 Cornhole (in the conservative city of Cincinnati) is a bean bag (actually, the bags were originally filled w/ corn) tossing game. Two-inclined boards ~35 feet apart, a small hole in the board. 2-man teams take turns tossing the bean bags, won't go into the scoring system. Actually, a very popular game here. Admittedly (in this day in age), an unfortunate name for the game, but fun nonetheless. 1385588[/snapback] We refer to it in Wisconsin by the less-startling "bean-bag toss." Saves the problems of people showing up to the tournaments in assless chaps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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