TEMPE, Ariz. — Arizona coach Bruce Arians said quarterback Carson Palmer was seeing another specialist Wednesday after his injured shoulder regressed following some throwing last week.
Arians said Palmer’s condition is “fairly close” to being back to what it was when he first hurt the shoulder in the season-opening win over San Diego.
If Palmer’s damaged nerve doesn’t improve in a hurry, backup Drew Stanton will get his third straight start when the Cardinals play at Denver on Sunday.
“He’s very frustrated, like we all would be,” Arians said. “He wants to play and is trying to find an answer.”
The Cardinals were hoping last week’s bye would provide Palmer with time to get his shoulder back in good health. Palmer thought last week that he was finally ready to throw again. He “threw a bunch” from 30 to 40 yards Thursday and Friday and felt no problem until afterward.
“Something swelled back around that nerve,” Arians said before Wednesday’s practice, “and it went back to sleep.”
Asked if the injury had become a long-term concern, the coach said, “it’s still week to week.”
“If we thought it was long term,” Arians said, “we could always put him on IR with a chance to return, but we’re not even close to that yet.”
Palmer was hurt when he was slammed to the ground while trying to run for a first down against the Chargers.
Arians said that for Palmer to play Sunday, the quarterback needs a day and a half to two days of being able to throw with “his full-speed delivery and not a soft touch.”
“He has to be back full-tilt,” Arians said.
Palmer could be the backup quarterback Sunday, but more likely that role would fall to rookie Logan Thomas, the only other quarterback on the roster.
Stanton had not taken a snap in the regular season for four years before leading the Cardinals to a road win over the New York Giants in Week 2. He followed that with a victory at home over San Francisco.
“His true leadership skills are showing for his teammates. I’ve seen it,” Arians said. “We’ve all seen him working with Carson and being a leader in a way that the backup quarterback does. But when you’re out there and you’re taking the shots he was taking, and you bounce back up and you go down and score a touchdown, that speaks volumes in a locker room.”
Stanton said he is approaching this game as he did the previous two.
“”I think you have to take the mindset that you’re preparing as if you are the starter,” he said. “It doesn’t change, and I haven’t wavered from that even in the past couple of years when I wasn’t getting snaps, because … you’d hate to look back and say, ‘Gosh, I wish I had prepared a little bit more.’”
NOTES: The Cardinals have yet to throw an interception this season. … Arizona re-signed inside linebacker Desmond Bishop. … Palmer was the only Arizona player who didn’t practice on Wednesday.
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