Carson Palmer says he will play this Monday night against the Green Bay Packers. The Unknown Column would highly recommend against this.
I just don't see what good can come of it. I think it's awesome that Palmer's rehab has, by all accounts, been a success and that he has returned to the practice field faster than expected. But why not simply allow Palmer to miss any game action for as long as possible? How much is he going to gain in a meaningless preseason affair anyway? Regardless of how "ready" he feels or how anxious he is to return to game action, why not wait until the regular season before allowing Palmer to take any real hits?
Look, if it was any other team I might not feel so strongly about this. But it's the Bengals. Few teams are as luckless, and possibly cursed, as the Bengals. Only the Bengals would lose their All-Everything quarterback on the first drive of their first playoff game in more than a decade. When you toss in the fact that Marvin Lewis is quickly becoming infamous for collecting known criminals and thugs, it seems karma may be ready to come down even harder than usual on the franchise. I wouldn't mess with destiny.
And rushing Palmer back just seems to be tempting fate unecessarily.
I can see it now. It's a Monday night game. Wouldn't it be just like the Bengals to lose Palmer again as a curious national television audience watches?
I wouldn't risk it.
