Carson Palmer Says Elbow Completely Healed

Carson Palmer, the starting quarterback for the Cincinnati Bengals, says that his troublesome elbow is 100% healed. Last season, Palmer sat out 12 games due to pain in his elbow. Instead of surgery, the Bengals had Palmer rest for most of the offseason. Apparently, the strategy has paid off.

Prior to last year, Palmer had been very successful in his NFL career. In 2005, the quarterback out of USC had 32 touchdowns and 3,836 passing yards. He followed that up with 28 touchdowns and 4,035 passing yards in 2006. After tearing ligaments in his knee in the 2006 playoffs, Palmer played the entire 2007 season and posted 4,131 passing yards and 26 touchdowns.

Last year, Palmer only played in four games and struggled for much of his time on the field. He finished the season with three touchdowns, four interceptions and 731 passing yards.

Though he claims that his elbow is 100%, the Bengals will closely monitor the amount of throwing he does between now and the start of the regular season. The team wants to make sure that he doesn’t overwork his elbow and put his 2009 NFL season in jeopardy.

On the football field, Palmer will have a different looking receiving corps. Chad Johnson, or Chad Ocho Cinco if you will, is still around. TJ Houshmandzadeh isn’t as the talented wide receiver left Cincinnati for the Seattle Seahawks earlier in the offseason.