Arizona Cardinals QB Carson Palmer: My arm has gotten stronger
Aug 1, 2015, 6:32 PM | Updated: 8:22 pm
GLENDALE, Ariz. — Before he suffered a season-ending knee injury in Week 10 last season, Arizona Cardinals quarterback Carson Palmer missed three games with an injured right shoulder.
He had damaged a nerve — the result of a collision between him and San Diego safety Eric Weddle in Week 1 — that, even upon his return in October, never quite felt 100 percent.
It was good enough, though, to lead the Cardinals to five straight wins until he tore his left ACL against St. Louis, which sidelined him for the remainder of the season.
The shoulder, given the proper amount of time, along with the knee, has since healed.
Palmer, 35, is under no limitations or restrictions as he begins his 13th training camp, the third running the Cardinals’ first-team offense.
“I’ve spent so much time rehabbing my knee and also rehabbing my shoulder,” he said, prior to taking the field for the first practice. “I did basically a shoulder surgery rehab protocol that a lot of guys do coming off of different shoulder injuries, and I was doing a ton of that stuff with (Brett Fischer at the Fischer Institute of Physical Therapy & Performance). Just getting it stronger and working on some stuff that he puts baseball players through and pitchers through.
“I feel that my arm has gotten stronger just from all of those workouts I’ve been doing.”
So, back to where it was or even stronger?
“I don’t know,” he answered. “It’s definitely stronger than it was last year just from that shoulder injury. But, it feels as strong as it’s ever been, maybe stronger.”
Palmer, who is 13-2 in his last 15 starts, added that he believes the increased strength has best been shown in the speed with which the football leaves his right arm.
“If you can throw it 50 yards and your arm gets stronger maybe you throw it 53. If you can throw it 65, maybe you can throw it 68. That, at the end of the day, isn’t a big difference,” he said. “I think the velocity is what you try to get out of those exercises.”
How much better Palmer is throwing the football was observed just prior to camp when he and a handful of teammates — Michael Floyd, John Brown, Ifeanyi Momah and Troy Niklas — worked out together in southern California.
Though he was not in attendance for those workouts, head coach Bruce Arians mentioned he noticed an improvement in Palmer’s throwing during OTAs and mini-camp.
“He’s worked so hard,” Arians said. “In the spring it was noticeably better than it was during the season. I’m anxious to see it out there again live because he’s done so much more work on it.”
