The NFL Today on CBS Quotage For Week 9

Now to CBS’ The NFL Today. Lots of quotes from the Tiffany Network today. Take a look.

NEWS, NOTES & QUOTES FROM CBS SPORTS’ “THE NFL TODAY” WITH JAMES BROWN, DAN MARINO, SHANNON SHARPE, BILL COWHER AND BOOMER ESIASON FOR
WEEK 9 ON NOVEMBER 6

SHANNON SHARPE CLEARS AIR WITH OAKLAND’S CARSON PALMER

THE NFL TODAY’s Shannon Sharpe sat down with Raiders quarterback Carson Palmer to discuss his departure from Cincinnati, as well as his preparation for his first start for Oakland since joining the team.

SHARPE: I’ve been very outspoken, Carson, and I’m not going to sit here and try to sugar coat it. I said you quit on your teammates. You quit on the city of Cincinnati. What do you say?
PALMER: It was a selfish decision. I knew what I was doing. I knew the ramifications. I knew that it was what was best for me and what was best for them.

SHARPE: So it sounds like you’re saying, you gave them four months to move in a different direction. So it’s kind of okay?
PALMER: Looking at it right now and if you look at it in the future, there’s a good chance they’re going to say, you know, it was the right decision to be made. I understand that you’re going to give me heat for it and I’m going to be taking heat from it from outside of this building, and that’s the situation it is.

REACTION TO CARSON PALMER

BILL COWHER: I admire and respect him for saying he was selfish. Because he was wrong. What he did was quit. If Andy Dalton doesn’t have the success he has, this could magnify a lot greater than what it is right now. Let’s not kid ourselves. He did quit on them. It worked out fine for Cincinnati. It worked out fine for Oakland. But you can’t have your way and say, I don’t want to play for you. I’m going to quit until you trade me. It doesn’t work that way.

DAN MARINO: You only have one career. He only has one career. He didn’t want it to be in Cincinnati anymore. The bottom line is after this, it’s worked out for both parties.

BOOMER ESIASON: I have some street cred in this. I’ve been in those shoes and walked a mile in those shoes. They don’t build statues for players in Cincinnati, I can tell you. Carson is a good person. Down deep, he’s really a good person. I think last year with Terrell Owens and Ochocinco, and all the things with the way the franchise was going, he just had enough. Really, when you look on the back end of it, I can understand where you’re coming from, Bill…The fact is, it really has worked out well for the Cincinnati Bengals. They have started anew. They’ve started fresh. They have young players, A.J. Green and Andy Dalton, and now they’re going to be able to add to that with high draft picks. I think it’s a win for everybody. I’m not going to sit here and attack Carson because I know what it was like playing there in Cincinnati.

SHARPE: I agree with Coach. I don’t think he should have requested a trade. You stick it out. Why not make the Cincinnati Bengals what Peyton did for the Indianapolis Colts. With that being said, Boom, there’s a lot of pressure. Ultimately, unless he wins a championship, this is going to be a blotch on his resume.

“INSIDE THE NFL” WITH CHARLEY CASSERLY

(On Peyton Manning’s Rehab from neck surgery)
CASSERLY: He’s working out on the elliptical. He cannot run on the treadmill yet because of the pounding it would take, and he can’t do that right now. However, he is throwing a football. It is a Nerf ball, but he is throwing. The Colts and he would like to get back on the practice field before the end of the season, but he’s not going to play in a game. Next, in March, March 12^th to be exact, he’s due a bonus of $28 million that will extend his contract by four years. However, look for this. If he’s not healthy at that point, they’ll move that date later.

(On NFL officials watching more closely for player concussions during games)
CASSERLY: In the past, here is the guideline they operated under, if a player could not get back to the huddle, they call time. Now what they’ve told the official is this – and I emphasize obviously – if obviously a player is stumbling or staggering after a play, they’re going to stop the play and have the team take a look at him. But they’re not going to go into the huddle and look in people’s eyes. I talked to a number of club officials and coaches this week. They weren’t too happy. They said to me, the officials have enough trouble trying to get the plays right. Why are we asking them to do something else?

CHALK TALK

(On Cleveland Quarterback Colt McCoy)
MARINO: He’s in a tough situation in that division with Baltimore and Pittsburgh. The jury’s out on him. I think, as a team, if you’re Cleveland, you have to look at other quarterbacks.

(On Dallas Cowboys)
ESIASON: Dallas is going to win their next five games. They’re going to take the lead in the NFC East. They’re going to win the NFC East. And the Cincinnati Bengals are going to win the AFC North. You watch. And, the San Francisco 49ers – 13?3, minimum record.

(On Detroit Lions)
SHARPE: I got some bad news for the Detroit fans. They’re going to lose five-of-the-next-eight games. They’re going to go 9?7, miss the playoffs. Cam Newton – he’s going to join you, Dan (Marino), in the 5,000?yard club.

QUICK HITS

(On Philadelphia)
MARINO: And the team that was in trouble now looks great — that’s the Eagles. You see what they did to Dallas. They just blew the doors off them the other night. If you look at them, they’re getting healthy…I think they can get to 10 wins, be a playoff team, wild card, and be like the Green Bay Packers of last year, get on a roll, and have a chance to go deep in to the playoffs.

(On New England)
COWHER: There are issues up in New England…The issue they have on offense is that they have no outside speed threat. You play bump and run, they can’t get off the line of scrimmage. They only throw the ball in between the numbers. Defensively, they’re ranked last in the league with no rush. They’re playing at home. They’re good at home. There are issues up there, and they’re scoring from the first game, first week, 38 points, has gone down every week to last week’s 16 points. I’m telling you, this team is trending in the wrong direction.