“I remember being in a fog just trying to figure out the verbiage of the offense and meeting new guys,” said Palmer. “It was fun but it was definitely a stressful time.”
Palmer has bigger matters to be stressed out about these days. No longer is he just concerned with immersing himself in as many of the plays as quickly as he can. Whether or not the Bengals can make a return to the playoffs after a two-year hiatus depends much on Palmer’s abilities not just on the field but his ability to consolidate the team off of it.
When you’re a quarterback taken No. 1 overall in the draft that’s just part of the assumed job description. There is no getting around it, and Palmer is no shrinking violet.
You know what they say, quarterbacks get too much of the credit and take too much of the blame. It’s the truth.
Except that it isn’t.
So there was Palmer on Friday morning standing on the sidelines with fellow first-rounders Johnathan Joseph and Leon Hall, watching the coaching staff put 40-plus rookies and NFL neophytes through drills as preparation for the 2008 season takes another step forward. Palmer wasn’t required to be there, even though his younger brother Jordan is now with the team trying to prove he is worthy of a roster spot in September and beyond.
No, he wasn’t required and the drills would have gone on just the same without him there but it also wouldn’t have been right for him not to be there.
It’s one of the subtle things leaders do just because they are leaders. Safety Dexter Jackson – the only Bengals player who owns a Super Bowl championship ring – addressed the rookies the night they arrived. Palmer was on the phone talking to draft choices shortly after they were selected welcoming them to the franchise.
How many wins will these actions will lead to this season? Who knows? Intangible things like these are impossible to quantify. How many losses will Chad Johnson’s antics this offseason lead to? That question receives the same answer. No one knows exactly. But it is better to have Palmer and the others around for the cumulative effect.
“I thought it was a big thing for these young kids to see three of the last five first-round draft picks out there today at practice, watching them, and a number of other guys,” said head coach Marvin Lewis. “For them to see that and the fact that a lot of the older players were here this morning and around and getting extra work out in. I think that's big for them to understand that.”
The Bengals are 42-38 since Lewis and Palmer arrived in 2003. There was a division championship in 2005, accompanied with the 31-17 loss against Pittsburgh in the playoffs, but beyond that the Bengals have only three .500 records and last season’s 7-9 disappointment to show for all of their work.
“He has a sense of urgency,” said Jordan Palmer of his older brother. “This is his sixth year. He’s 0-for-1 in playoff games; he’s got a sense of urgency. He wants to win some games. If that means they need rookie help, if that means knowing what’s going on with trades or whatever he’ll do that. He has that sense of urgency. He doesn’t have time to worry about me.”
Washington picked Jordan Palmer in the sixth round of the 2007 draft but cut him at the end of the preseason. The Bengals signed him this offseason to compete with Ryan Fitzpatrick and Jeff Rowe for the role of Carson Palmer’s understudy. There is no nepotism involved in this business relationship.
There are more important matters to be concerned with.
“From the day I’ve been here guys treat me like Jordan Palmer, the quarterback from wherever who did whatever. It’s not ‘Hey, here’s little C.P. or whatever,’” said Jordan. “My brother just happens to be the starter. There are positives and negatives but I really haven’t seen any negative yet. There are obviously positives in getting feedback but at the same time he’s not doing anything for me that he’s not doing for Ryan or Jeff. I think Ryan and Jeff know that. He’s not helping me out in meetings; he’s not whispering stuff to me or passing me notes.
“He’s got his job to handle. He’s got the whole franchise on his shoulders.”