Even though the Bengals next take the field on Thursday against the St. Louis Rams, Carson Palmer remains questionable. Joe Reedy writes that we "should know more on Palmer after he hits the practice field [later] this afternoon." [UPDATE: The Bengals tweet that Palmer didn't dress for practice on Saturday]
Palmer's absence Thursday allowed J.T. O'Sullivan to showcase his own talents with the first team. For the most part, he didn't make mistakes and late in the first half, he made a perfect throw to Chris Henry, which eventually won the game, in the face of an eight-man rush.
As this pace, O'Sullivan is the Cincinnati Bengals backup quarterback. It would take a disaster through the remaining two preseason games, as well as near perfection by Jordan Palmer, to shake up the depth chart. With that thought in mind, let's compare the numbers between O'Sullivan and Fitzpatrick through the first two games.
Quarterback comparison through two games.
| Season | Quarterback | QB Rating | Comp. | Yards | TDs | INTs | Sacks |
| 2009 | J.T. O'Sullivan | 136.3 | 79.2% | 241 | 2 | 0 | 4 |
| 2008 | Ryan Fitzpatrick | 109.0 | 73.9% | 170 | 1 | 0 | 2 |