Q: Carson did you throw the ball, did you see the play that [Mike] Goodson got hurt?
Carson Palmer: I didn't see it. I threw to him and he cut up field and I turned around and was walking back towards the huddle. I heard the hit and turned around and saw him on the ground.
Q: Training camp injuries happen all the time, but how scary is that?
Carson Palmer: It's scary when it happens to anybody. When you hear of a neck, back, or a head injury it scares you. [I'm] just so disappointed for Mike because he had been doing so good. He looked so explosive and so fast, and everybody was getting excited about what he could do for our team. We are all praying and hoping this isn't serious.
Q: How hard is it to carry on after something happens like that in the middle of practice?
Carson Palmer: It's not easy, but that's the game. You don't want to say it but that's part of the deal. Guys go down and sometimes they go off on stretchers, sometimes they go off on the back of a little golf carts, [and] sometimes they go off on their own; but it's just part of the game. You practice it because you do it in games, and you have to get off the field in the middle of the game.
Q: Carson your overall impressions now that you're here for a training camp and really can get entrenched? I heard some comments you made earlier about how it is nice to start from scratch. Can you elaborate on that?
Carson Palmer: Yes. It's been a grind. Tomorrow is the seventh day in a row of full padded practice with double days every other day. Lots of meetings, lots of installs, but great opportunity to learn especially for the young guys; well really everybody just because everything is so new. A lot of the stuff is our second time installing it since we installed it in OTAs and in mini-camp. But just a great opportunity to learn and we are getting every opportunity to do it. Long meetings, long hours on the field but that's why we are here, that's what we are here for. After this first preseason game [and] going into the second game we are going to have a really good dose of the playbook under our belts and [have] had lots of reps because of all the opportunities we are getting in practice.
Q: Coach Allen talked about the chemistry between you and Matt [Leinart]. He likes what we see obviously you guys have a history at SC and all the Heisman and all the things that go with it. Can you comment on the exchange and the relationship between you and Matt Lienart?
Carson Palmer: Yes, Matt and I have known each other 15 years-16 years. We went to high school in the same area. Pretty similar in age so we've been around each other for a long time. Spent some time in college together, and have always stayed in contact. We worked out in the off-seasons together; it's been a great relationship. Selfishly it's been great for me, because he's been in this offense going on three years now. There's times that [offensive coordinator Greg] Knapp will say something and Matt will say it in a different way and it'll hit me a little bit different way. It will hit me in a way coming from a guy that experienced that play experience that rep. So it's been really good for me to just speed up this process of getting to learn the playbook and getting comfortable with this playbook.
Q: Did you ever think that the two of you would be together on the same NFL team?
Carson Palmer: You never know. I never thought I would've played with my brother but in this league you never know what's going to happen. You play with great people and you get lucky in some places, and unlucky in some others. But Matt and I relationship has been great and I am lucky to have him here to really help me out. He's been great. He's a great leader for younger guys, other quarterbacks, and other players on this team so it's been great.
Q: Carson you knew about all the boots and movement in the West Coast. When you're out here and you're doing it almost full speed, is it feeling natural? Or is it a little bit of a work in progress?
Carson Palmer: It's really not a whole lot different or more than what I've done in the past. It gets talked about a lot, and I'm not sure exactly why. It's just different launch points like Coach Knapp says. But I'm very comfortable doing it and enjoying everything we are installing in theoffense. The boots, the nakeds, the half -rolls; there are so many different launch points from where you throw the ball at in this offense. The more opportunities I get a chance to do it I'm liking it more and more.
Q: It looks like the timing with the receivers has to be more exact because you're on the move while they're on the move, does that make the relationship with the receivers even more important?
Carson Palmer: I don't think it does, but you're right, when you're on the move and you're running towards the sideline the receiver can only run so far before he goes out of bounds. The relationship with the quarterback and the receiver, whether you're on the move or in the pocket, is always something that needs to be pinpoint accurate and something that needs to be very rhythmic and have great timing. Definitely when you're on the run you run out of field at some point but we're coming along slowly and I think we're at a really good spot right now. We just need to keep going and we need to get Denarius Moore back and get Taiwan Jones back and get those guys in lines and get them going with the offense.
Q: How would you describe your relationship with Coach Knapp and [Quarterbacks] Coach [John] DeFilippo?
Carson Palmer: Awesome, awesome. [Not only are they] great coaches, but great people. Coach Knapp has been very successful in this league at a bunch of different places and I'm just honored to have the opportunity to play for him and learn from him, and Coach [DeFilippo] the same way; he's been with Coach Knapp a couple different times, he coached college, NFL, New York Giants, New York Jets. He's been around, but [he's] a great teacher and he really understands Coach Knapp's system and they work really well together too which is really beneficial for us quarterbacks.
Q: It's been widely reported that Pete Carroll touched base with you about Terrell Owens and that you gave him a pretty good endorsement. Could you expound on that at all? Tell us anything about the conversation or the good things you had to say?
Carson Palmer: Coach had reached out to me a couple of times. Just knowing coach's style and the way he goes about teaching and leading his team. I just thought that T.O. would be a great fit. I had the opportunity to play with T.O. and really enjoyed playing with him. It was a great relationship and we continued to work out afterwards and didn't have anything negative to say about T.O. It was a great relationship when I was there and I thought I would just let coach know that I thought he would fit in there with his style and I think they are going to have a lot of success together.
Q: Have you heard from T.O. recently? Especially over the last year as he has tried to make his way back into the NFL? Did you have any encouraging words for him and all that?
Carson Palmer: Yeah. Just traded text messages with him the other day. Maybe today, I think when he signed. I haven't been paying attention to the news, just texting him back and forth congratulating him. Like I said, I think he will be successful there.
Q: Did you want him to come here?
Carson Palmer: He was looking for a job anywhere. I know he has worked extremely hard to come back from the injuries he has had over the last couple of years and he was looking for a spot any where he could go.
Q: How important and how great would it be in your mind to be the quarterback of the Raiders that leads this team back to its storied history and Commitment to Excellence?
Carson Palmer: That's the plan. We are out here working every day for a Super Bowl and nothing less. But obviously it would be a huge honor and a lot of fun along the way.
Q: People say that if the Raiders are good the NFL is in good shape. Can you echo that?
Carson Palmer: Absolutely. This is a team of the decades like it says on our facility walls and winning is the only thing that is acceptable. All the mottos you have heard over the years from Al Davis and now that we are hearing from Coach Allen, we understand that we are expected to win and it's not about anything else. It's about winning.
Q: Has DeMarcus Van Dyke made an impression on you?
Carson Palmer: He has. He has looked really good. He made a lot of very good plays because he can turn and run and he can also jump on balls and break. He is so athletic and so fast, once he does have to open it up and turn and run he has really looked well. He has looked good in camp so we just have to keep grinding and we are going to keep trying to pick on him and keep working against him but he has looked good so far.
Q: Is it fair to say that Denarius Moore might have had the best chemistry with you and now when he is down you have to find another guy like that?
Carson Palmer: No question. When he was healthy, we lost him for a couple games last year, but when he was healthy he and I had really figured out a rhythm and timing. We figured each other out. We have to get back there. Obviously we want to be smart with him because hamstrings are really something that can linger and affect you in the long haul. Our training staff is great. They aren't rushing anything, they aren't getting too excited in getting him back out there. They are being very patient and that is what you have to do with a guy in his spot.
Q: That was a nice pass you through over the linebacker to Jacoby [Ford]20 yards, 25 yards down the field. Do you feel like you are getting that with Jacoby? Where are you with Jacoby?
Carson Palmer: Jacoby and I are really coming together. It is hard when we have had some goal line days and have had some short yardage the last couple practices. When we were doing third downs and putting it in the red zone a couple of days ago, we were really clicking and firing on all cylinders. We just have to keep grinding and keep going. We are not where we want to be yet. But we are coming along.
Q: How would you assess how you have done the last couple weeks in camp? Has it been as good as you would like it to be? Or could it be better?
Carson Palmer: Personally for me I always want to complete every single ball I throw in practices. It's not unrealistic, but I missed a ball over Brandon Myers' head that I can think of right now. Always want to get better, but I think we are where we need to be at this point in camp. We are only a week in I think, so we have a game in another four or five days. I feel really good in the offense. I feel confident and comfortable calling the plays and comfortable redirecting protections and getting in and out of plays. We still have a lot of work to do. It's still early in camp.
Q: In this process were you looking at yourself on a daily basis and grading yourself after every practice every day? Or were you kind of looking at it as a whole?
Carson Palmer: I look at it every day. If you make a mistake on one play, because we are not just doing one installed and moving on, we are installing a set of plays and then working on it for a couple of days so that we get four, five, six reps of them. I like to make sure that I have a play down. You will make a mistake on a read or ball placement on a certain route, and then if you have an opportunity to run it again later that day or the next day, you want to make sure you don't make the same mistakes and you improve from there. So it is a play by play, day by day thing for me.
