|
TEMPE, Ariz. -- The pop came overnight. When Carson Palmer threw the Thursday before Arizona hosted Washington in Week 6, wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald saw passes that were “a little soft coming out.” A day later, when the Cardinals took the field for their final practice before Palmer’s return, his velocity was back. “That next day it was boom, boom, boom,” Fitzgerald said. “[When his passes] hit your hands, there was some zip and velocity on it, and we knew he was ready to roll.” He’s been rolling ever since. Palmer is preparing for his third game since returning from a five-week absence because of an axillary nerve contusion in his right throwing shoulder, and the 34-year-old feels like he’s back to full strength. “I’m there,” Palmer said. “I’m there right now, and I’m actually able to lift in my upper body, which I wasn’t able to lift for, I think, five weeks, is what it was. Definitely had a lot of atrophies. Starting to get some strength back and starting to put on a little extra weight up top, which is good. “You get sick of going into the weight room and not being able to do things. It was a month of that. It’s good to be back doing that stuff.” Heading into Sunday’s game against Philadelphia, Palmer’s right shoulder is as close to its pre-injury state as it’s been since he suffered the injury on “Monday Night Football” in Week 1. “It’s improved,” receiver John Brown said. “Seemed like the old Carson when we first started camp and everything. Carson’s looking real good.” Brown, who spent time with Palmer in California this summer, knew Palmer was back when the quarterback sent the rookie on a deep route a couple weeks ago. Palmer let it fly about 50 to 60 yards, Brown said, and hit the speedster in stride. To get his timing back with his receivers, Palmer put in extra time with them, receiver Michael Floyd said. It was “pretty tough” but they’re “making it work,” he added. The past two weeks have been about getting back to a normal rhythm for Palmer. “It’s just nice to practice and be able to study the night before and know what you’re putting in and then go out and test it in practice and kind of have some trial and error of different coverages, different plays,” Palmer said. “It’s nice to be psychologically prepared because you know you’ve done it in practice and you know you’ve repped those plays and had those looks.” At this point, with the injury seven weeks old and his return about to be three games old, Cardinals coach Bruce Arians feels Arizona and Palmer can put the shoulder injury behind him. “Knock on wood,” Arians said. “Hopefully, we don’t have to talk about that one anymore.”
|
