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Chick Ludwig covers the Cincinnati Bengals. He also writes about his other passions: college football, basketball and golf.Home > Blogs > Chick Ludwig At Large > Archives > 2008 > September > 30 > Entry
No deception in ‘ElbowGATE’ fiasco
IF ‘FITZ’ IS THE MAN,
FANS WILL SEE MORE
‘OUT OF POCKET’ PLAYS
TO SUIT HIS STYLE
===LUDWIG AT LARGE exonerates Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis regarding Carson Palmer’s “ELBOW-GATE.” By the time Palmer let the coaches know something was wrong with his elbow, and doctors let the coaches know the extent and severity of the injury, the staff had to hustle to get backup Ryan Fitzpatrick ready. I’ve been vilified for my support of Fitzpatrick, the Arizona-born, Harvard-educated stud backup. Fans need to know this: The game plan against the Browns was set up for Palmer. If Fitzpatrick is the man this week, you’ll see more out-of-pocket plays to suit his style.===
The Cincinnati Bengals issued this news release on Friday at 12:15 p.m.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE; FRI., SEPT. 26, 2008
FROM CINCINNATI BENGALS PUBLIC RELATIONS
PALMER ON INJURY REPORT
QB Carson Palmer will be added to the Bengals’ Injury Report today, rated as questionable for Sunday’s game against Cleveland.
During the practice week, Palmer has experienced soreness in his right elbow (throwing arm).
“Carson has told us he’s going to be ready to play, but he developed some carryover soreness from last week’s game,” said Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis. “We are backing him off a little in practice today, so he has to be listed on the report.”
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Naturally, I was shocked to learn that quarterback Carson Palmer had surfaced on the club’s Injury Report. After all, he told us on Wednesday, in his weekly news conference prior to practice: “I feel good.”
Fast forward to Sunday when he was placed on the shelf — designated the “third quarterback” — for the Bengals-Browns game at Paul Brown Stadium.
I asked Marvin Lewis, point blank, on Monday: “Why the deception regarding Palmer’s status?”
His response:
“There’s no deception on Carson. The decision was made (to sit him) on Saturday morning. I talked with Carson at length Saturday evening and told him what I thought was the best thing for him, because at that point he was still adamant that he wanted to play. So there is no deception. The doctors expressed their concern to him on Thursday, as he told you and I told you. There was no deception.”
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Comments
By psychostats
September 30, 2008 10:03 AM | Link to this
Fitzpatrick looked very disoriented on Sunday. If it’s true that he wasn’t prepped properly, then it would be hardly any surprise. It’s well documented that the coaching staff is under-staffed. The medical staff most surely is also under-staffed. Knowing Mike Brown the way we do, we can bet that all the staffs on the team are terribly under-staffed. At this point, we can only pray that someone raises a different type of staff and parts the waters for us. Until then, be prepared to wander in the desert for another 40 years.