Updated: 1:50 p.m.
While everyone is focused on the Browns quarterback situation, Carson Palmer says he'll play Sunday despite a sore throwing elbow.
"I'll be ready to roll," Palmer said after Friday's practice. "It was a rest day. I feel good with the game plan, confident with what we're doing. The doctors decided the best thing to do would be to rest it and be fully healthy for Sunday."
 Palmer |
Palmer indicated he thought it could be from overuse.
"We decided to take precautionary measures to make sure he's up and ready to go Sunday,' Lewis said. "We limited his reps today. Kind of let it settle down where he feels good and comfortable and where he releases the ball effectively down the field.
"Through the rest he should be fine for Sunday. He feels comfortable with it. After watching the practice tape yesterday I feel comfortable with it."
Palmer has taken a pounding ever since the preseason, when he broke his nose in the Aug. 23 game against New Orleans. After suffering a sprained ankle in Week 2 against Tennessee, he got sacked six times by the Giants but didn't surface on the injury report for his elbow until Friday.
Palmer has been remarkably durable since he missed the last three games of his first season as a starter in 2004 with a sprained knee. Despite undergoing reconstructive knee surgery after the 2005 season, he has put together 51 straight regular-season starts.
Lewis said Palmer doesn't usually throw much on Fridays when backup quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick gets the bulk of the snaps. But he didn't participate in Friday's "QB Challenge" where the passers compete against each other trying to throw a ball into a net.
As for other injuries, Lewis said cornerback Johnathan Joseph (ankle) is in much better shape than last week at this time. But it still looks bleak because Lewis hates to play guys that haven't practiced during the week. Lewis said tight end Ben Utecht (chest) has had a good week of practice even if limited the first two days, but Utecht indicated before Friday's practice that Sunday will come down to his pain tolerance.
Lewis also said a report that said a bench warrant had been issued for rookie defensive tackle Jason Shirley was "premature," and he doesn't know if Shirley has to be gone next week to undergo another DUI trial. The previous one had a hung jury.
