Carson Palmer has tediously mapped out the rehabilitation plan for his torn ACL, and knows exactly when certain milestones will be reached.

The Cardinals quarterback gets ahead of himself at times, envisioning the progress he will make in the coming months.

“I’m so excited about OTAs, mini-camp, training camp, New Orleans coming here (to open the regular season), going to Chicago – you start thinking of all these things,” Palmer said. “I have to fight that. That’s a hurdle for me, personally. I’ve got to fight that. It’s one day at a time, one rep at a time. I’m not looking past anything.”

Monday was an easy day for Palmer to soak in the here and now. The Cardinals began Phase II of their offseason workout program, which allowed the players to take the field and run plays for the first time. Palmer was right in the mix, participating

with the first-team offense in all of the drills.

He not only handed the ball off to the running backs, but zipped short, intermediate and deep throws to his receivers. While the action wasn’t close to replicating game-like conditions, Palmer said joining the rest of the team on the field was a big mental boost after missing the last eight games of the 2014 season.

via Kyle Odegard of azcardinals.com