Bengals' Palmer Says He's Healthy

After watching their team flounder to a 4-11-1 record -- largely without him -- in 2008, Bengals fans likely can't wait to see Carson Palmer healthy and leading their offense again.

Based on what we heard during the start of offseason workouts Monday, Palmer is on the right track. In fact, he's more than just on the right track. Palmer says he's ready to go.

"I'm 100 percent," Palmer said. "I've been cleared. My elbow feels great and I just have to keep going and get the small mechanical things that I normally do this time of year."

Palmer also seems to understand that he doesn't exactly have forever to try to lead the Bengals back to the playoffs.

"There's no more 'Well, hopefully next year and next year we're going to be better. We're going to be this, we're going to be that,'" Palmer said.

"It's going into year seven and I feel like I haven't really played any football yet. I definitely haven't played in any significant games.

"I realize the more years you put in, the more you can't look to next year at any point in the season. The time is now. It's something once you hit years four, five, six years and guys in the NFL realize you can't look to the future anymore. You need to seize the moment and the year and hopefully this is our year."

While you can argue that his job is tougher without Chad Ocho Cinco around, we can all be confident that the receiver will eventually show up.

With any luck, the Bengals will use the draft to solidify their offensive line, so Palmer has time to throw to Ocho Cinco and Laveranues Coles. If they can do that, the Bengals have the makings of a pretty good offense once again this season.