What a whirlwind week it has been for Carson Palmer. Just seven days ago, Carson was taking his first practice snaps for the Oakland Raiders after months of semi-retirement on Cincinnati Bengals owner Mike Brown’s shelf in a protest of Mike Brown. Then came the Raiders, panicked after Jason Campbell went down with a broken collar bone that they would be forced to rely on the gelatinous arm of Kyle Boller to lead them to their playoff goals this season, and they made an offer that even Mike Brown couldn’t refuse. Carson had been keeping in shape in Southern California, but hadn’t thrown a single pass to an NFL receiver or taken a snap in an NFL offense since the end of last season. Needless to say there would be some rust, so nobody was surprised when Carson Palmer and coach Hue Jackson came to the mutual decision that he wasn’t ready to get in against a real defense just yet on Sunday. However, Kyle Boller went out and did his best to justify the high price Oakland paid to bring Palmer in, throwing three interceptions in the first half, including a pick six, and Palmer was forced into action…and he pulled a Boller in the second half, throwing three interceptions, including a pick six. Hue Jackson, however, is not worried. Wait, really? Not even a little?
From NFL.com:
“This man was on a couch and we’re playing against the highest level of competition on Sunday,” Jackson told KNBR-AM, via SportsRadioInterviews.com. “I think what he did in my opinion was kind of remarkable. … Like I said, if anyone can do it, he can, and the only guy that can overcome (getting adjusted) — whether it’s gonna be really good or gonna be really bad — is this guy, Carson Palmer.”
Jackson, for one, won’t apologize for making an aggressive move to get a veteran quarterback to fuel Oakland’s push for the playoffs. He dismissed the idea that he created a fiasco last week around Palmer’s playing status against the Chiefs.
“I think any time you put a player on your team like Carson Palmer, who was the first player drafted by Cincinnati and you put him on your team, I’m not the one that calls all the media to talk about him,” Jackson said. “My focus was to get my team ready. I never once said Carson Palmer was going to start. I said we we’re going to see if we could get him off and running. That means he’s off his couch, now he’s practicing with his teammates, getting to know his teammates, and that was it. I never once said he was going to start, play, or anything.”
The Raiders may be short on draft picks next year, but their coach sure isn’t short on optimism. Palmer was in a rough spot being asked to go into that game. Running back Darren McFadden went out early in the first quarter with a foot sprain, so the running game went stale, and Boller killed any momentum or passion the offense might have had heading into that game by halftime with his terrible performance. Palmer had three days with the team, barely enough time to learn the names of the guys on the team, let alone the intricacies of an NFL offense.
Palmer has been coming in during the bye week with his receivers to learn the passing game so that he’s ready to go in Week 9. McFadden should be recovered from his foot sprain, or the team will be prepared to platoon the running game to accommodate his injury, and the receivers will have some familiarity with the quarterback they’re running routes for. Things will get better in Oakland with Palmer behind center, and they fortunately didn’t lose any ground on division leading San Diego while they get it figured out. In short, “This man was on a couch” is my new favorite way of saying cut him some slack.
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