Just My Type

MAN IN BLACK 3

CARSON PALMER

The two-time Pro Bowler threw for 2,753 yards, 13 TDs and 16 INTs in 10 games after being traded from Cincinnati to Oakland after Week 6 of last season.

DAN PATRICK: When you joined the Bengals out of USC, you had the luxury of sitting behind Jon Kitna. Would you have been ready to start?

CARSON PALMER: I would have been ready, but I wouldn't have been able to perform at the same level that Jon was performing at. Jon had been there a long time. He knew the system. It was an opportunity for me to learn from one of the [truly great] mentors. Now if you get drafted one through 10, you're playing right away.

DP: How has the game changed to allow rookies to play and succeed?

CP: I don't know if the game has changed, just the thought process. Now [teams] make rookies play and go through all those growing pains early. There's a reason a team is drafting high—you're not very good. You have another year to let a guy learn, let him take his lumps. Let him have a whole off-season to watch film of himself and understand why he made mistakes and be ready [by the] second or third year.

DP: What was your impression of the Raiders while you were in Cincinnati, and how has that changed since you've been in Oakland?

CP: The last decade since Rich Gannon left has been rough on Raider Nation. Out in Cincinnati, you don't have a real good feel of what's going on. Since I've been here, I've been more and more impressed. It's a true organization. There's somebody running it in [new general manager] Reggie McKenzie, and he's got a direction and goals. He's taking the small steps to get there. From what I've heard, since the passing of the great Al Davis, this place has changed drastically.

DP: Do you care about patching up your relationship with the Bengals?