Buried not far underneath the story/debate/discussion/rants of getting Andre Smith signed, was that Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer could go a full month before seeing any game action if he missed the preseason finale against the Indianapolis Colts this Thursday. The mild high sprain he suffered against the New Orleans Saints reduced his practices to observations and, starting this week, working out his ankle.
There's really no doubt that Palmer will start against the Denver Broncos, barring any set backs or total misdirection from the coaching staff as to Palmer's status. Even though he worked with Andre Caldwell, Chris Henry and Jerome Simpson during the offseason and taking a majority of the snaps during Training Camp leading up to the game against the Saints, the issue many are concerned with is his timing. And we're not just talking about practice. Practice. We're not just talking about practice. Rather game situations. To avoid getting off to a rough start against the Broncos, a team that we have every chance to beat, we had hoped Palmer would get some snaps against the Colts.
That might happen, writes Joe Reedy:
Palmer was out on the field for the first 30 minutes of practice and did some stretching with the team before taking part in the drills. He did some dropping back and rollouts, completing a variety of passes to receivers, including a bomb to Chad Ochocinco.
After the drill, he then came inside Paul Brown Stadium and did some more rehab work on his sprained left ankle. During his press conference, coach Marvin Lewis said there is "a possibility" that Palmer would play in Thursday’s preseason finale against Indianapolis.