Palmer breaks offseason silence on Sirius XM radio

Raiders quarterback Carson Palmer broke his long offseason silence on Wednesday, joining Sirius XM's Adam Schein and former Raiders QB Rich Gannon on the "Sirius XM Blitz." Palmer spoke of Hue Jackson's firing, his offseason plans, the excitement he feels for the upcoming offseason and he affinity he feels for receiver Denarius Moore.Following then, and with a tip of the cap to Bay Area News Group's Steve Corkran for transcription, a sampling of what Palmer spoke about on the showOn the firing of Hue Jackson, who orchestrated his trade to the Raiders from Cincinnati: "It was tough. Myself and a lot of guys on the team were close with Hue, and good friends, and looked up to Hue in a lot of different ways. Its going to be different. It sounds like things are really changing in a lot of different areas and going in a number of different directions, so it will be exciting and this team will be ready to roll once the offseason kicks off in April."
On if he's had a chance to sit and take with general manager Reggie McKenzie or coach Dennis Allen yet: "Not really. I talked to Reggie McKenzie a couple of days after hed been hired, just more of a kind of meet and greet, and I talked to coach Allen once on the phone and hes very energetic. I know hes very excited at this opportunity and Im excited to see what he brings to the team."On if he could adequately describe the past 365 days in his life: "No. Not in a word or one sentence even. Its wild and I wouldnt say 'concerned,' but I think youre always concerned a little bit about your job especially when a new guy comes in. But at the end of the day, Ive been busting my butt, Im going to go in, and as soon as I get a chance to learn this offense, Ive been trying to get a playbook and film, but theres a lot of league-wide restrictions on that. So I havent even had a chance to get any information from the organization just because theres some loop holes and different things when you change regimes. Ive been champing at the bit and all I can really do is get prepared and be a leader, and be a veteran, and help out the young guys and take care of my job and the reset of ithow it falls. Concern isnt the right word, Im just excited at getting an opportunity and looking forward to the future."On how things will be different this season with an entire offseason and working with a new offensive coordinator in Greg Knapp: "Im getting ready to head up to L.A. to train. The guy Ive been training with for the last seven or eight years has a gym up there and thats where I spend the offseason, getting ready with him. Ive been in contact with all my receivers and even guys like Marcel Reece and Kevin Boss, David Ausberry, some younger guys that Raider fans havent heard of that they should be excited about. Well get together in L.A. and have some throwing sessions set up before we get back to Oakland and before we get the playbook. Before we get to 7-on-7 sessions and the team drills that were going to be doing in OTAs and minicamps. We have a chance to get our feet and just kind of get back in the swing of things before were out in front of the coaches and in front of the organization, just to kind of get the rust off and get ready for those OTAs. We dont just show up at OTAs and say, all right, lets go. We want to be prepared and at least somewhat on the same page or as close to being on the same page as we can be heading into OTAs."On where he is now as a quarterback, and health-wise: "Health, 100 percent. Most quarterbacks this time of year, youre feeling probably as good as youre going to feel, I probably feel as good as Im going to feel in all of 2012 and 2013. I was fortunate to come out of the season without any offseason surgeries or any big rehab concerns. I only played in a handful of games so I didnt have a chance to get beat up or worn down. We finished the year at the O in front of our fans and didnt finish the way we wanted playing against the Chargers, but after that, I felt as good as Ive ever felt in my entire career at the end of the season because I only played barely half the season.On what happened last season: "What didnt happen? Obviously losing Darren McFadden was a huge blow. He was such a huge part of the offense. Part of the passing game, part of the running game and pass protection-wise. So losing him was obviously a big blow, and Jacoby Ford, we lost for all those games. Denarius Moore, who I could not be more excited about, we lost him for a handful of games. Its no excuse, but when you sit back and play the 'What could have been' game, and you think about losing those guys for those games, that was obviously a big blow to us. But to see a guy like Michael Bush come in and have the year he had in a backup role, and to see the way we finished, youve got to take your hat off to coach Jackson and the job he did offensively, and coach Al Saunders, because I think we finished in the top seven or eight or nine in offense, even with losing all those guys, so you can really get excited about the future when you think of it that way. Getting some guys healthy, and a guy I mentioned, David Ausberry, a tight end, just a freak athlete and a guy that can do so many different things. You get him back, you get Taiwan Jones, another rookie that was injured in those games, and just an explosive player that youve got to get excited about the things he can do with the football. There are a lot of things to get excited about and the future is definitely bright."On the direction of the team and how close it is to being a playoff team: "I cant speak on the direction of the organization, thats definitely Mr. McKenzie and the organization and the people upstairs at the facility. Thats what theyre looking at and figuring out right now. But as far as being close to a playoff team, I think its more than that. I think were close to a championship team. Theres a lot of work that needs to be put in and a lot of hurdles that we need to get over, but I think we need to be heading into this season thinking more than just playoffs and trying to get to the playoffs and trying to win the AFC West. I think its bigger than that, and we definitely have a lot of pieces to the puzzle than being more than just a playoff team."On if there is enough talent at the wide receiver position: "Theres definitely the talent in the room. You look at Denarius Moore, what he did as a rookie, and he missed a handful of games, was amazing. Not statistically or the numbers, but the big plays that he made in big games. Momentum-changing games. Game-winning plays. You look at what he can bring to the table and just talking to him, like I have this offseason and just hearing the excitement of his voice and the disappointment in his voice that he didnt do more, couldnt do more. Those things like that are what excite me. Thats a big-time receiver in the making, and hes only going to get better. Then you look at Darrius Heyward-Bey, had the best year of his career. Jacoby Ford was hurt a lot but made some tremendous plays. And then Louis Murphy, a guy that was the leading receiver on the team in years past and didnt have the year he wanted. And is just hungry and anticipating a big year for himself. So theres a handful of guys that you get really excited about and need a lot of work and a lot of polishing, but I dont think its a concern or an area of concern or should be an area of concern because were close at that position."On if he needed a change of scenery: "I dont want a change of scenery. Im happy where I am."On if he feels pressure to live up to the trade: "Oh, absolutely. Absolutely, without a doubt. Playing the position of quarterback, theres always pressure, and theres always outside pressures, but with myself, Ive always put more inside pressure, more internal pressure. Pressure that I put on myself is bigger than anything I heard or felt from the outside. But with the trade and with all thats gone on throughout my career, I feel a tremendous amount of pressure and I love it. Thats why I started playing quarterback, I think, at a young age, the balls in your hands every single play. Theres only two players that can say that and that's the center and the quarterback. And Ive always relished being in that position and just all the little things that come along with it. The expectations from a leadership role, the expectations from performance and obviously the outside pressures that come with the position."On what kind of changes he expects from new offensive coordinator Greg Knapp: "I dont know. I cant wait to find out. Ive been trying to get my hands on a playbook, but like I said before, theres some loopholes with the new regime coming in and all these new CBA, NFLPA, all that stuff thats been going on the last year."On if he can call fellow QBs like Matt Schaub that have played for Knapp to get their takes on him: "Him, and Matt Leinart, and Kevin Walter are all buddies and Ive talked to all them, and everybodys raved about him. Ive talked to a handful of guys that are still with the Raiders who played for him when he was with the Raiders a couple years back. Ive asked around plenty, and Ive gotten my hands on some 2010 film, some older Texans film, where they were kind of doing some of the same stuff with the long play-action stuff and what excites me about it is it sounds like its a lot of play-action, a lot of boots, and throwing the ball down the field, and using, it sounds like were going to use that speed we have on the outside and try to throw the ball over peoples heads. We did that quite a bit last year and had quite a bit of success throwing the ball deep and it sounds like its going to be some of the same stuff and Im excited to see the direction of the run game. It sounds like its going to be a zone-running scheme and theres definitely a lot of excitement, not just myself, exchanging words with Tyvon Branch, hopefully we get him back, hes a safety that had a great year and hes had a great career in Oakland and I know hes excited about some of the changes on defense. I keep saying it, but its an exciting time."