Carson Palmer to Miss "Battle of Ohio"

Carson Palmer (elbow) is out and instead is the No. 3 quarterback while backup Ryan Fitzpatrick is in for the Bengals in a game against the Browns that had been all about Cleveland's backup quarterback during the week.

Usually the three quarterbacks come out together for warmups, but Sunday at Paul Brown Stadium Fitzpatrick emerged only with No. 3 quarterback Jordan Palmer. Jordan's brother surfaced on Friday's injury report with a sore elbow, didn't practice, and was listed as questionable. Carson Palmer, who practiced Wednesday and Thursday, said Friday with the day of rest he would be "ready to roll."

But his streak of 51 straight starts ended when Marvin Lewis gave the nod to Fitzpatrick, making his fourth NFL start and his first since his rookie year of 2005. Fitzpatrick, the first Harvard quarterback to complete a NFL pass, hasn't thrown one since that rookie year.
Another key offensive player was out with third-down back Kenny Watson (hamstring) inactive. Out for the second straight week was cornerback Johnathan Joseph (ankle) and David Jones got his second straight start in his spot.

Also inactive again were safeties Dexter Jackson (thumb) and Herana-Daze Jones (hamstring) as well as rookie receiver Andre Caldwell and rookie defensive tackles Pat Sims and Jason Shirley.

The Browns had two starters inactive in outside linebacker Willie McGinest and wide receiver Donte Stallworth.

Fitzpatrick lost his three starts to Washington, Minnesota and Philadelphia consecutively. But his run began with one of the most spectacular debuts in NFL history when he came off the bench and rallied St. Louis to an overtime victory in Houston in which he threw for 310 yards that included the sudden death winner of 56 yards to wide receiver Kevin Curtis.

He had an impressive preseason in which he put up more points than Palmer with a 104.2 passer rating, but he opened up eyes with his athleticism out of the pocket. His 79 yards on nine scrambles were third best on the team