Carson Palmer missed Sunday's start against the Browns due to an elbow injury, breaking his streak of 52 straight starts. Now comes concern that the injury is much more serious than orginally indicated.

Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com wrote on Monday that "amid various uncorroborated and unconfirmed rumors and rumblings emanating from Cincinnati that Bengals' quarterback Carson Palmer might need Tommy John surgery, Palmer himself has hinted that the supposedly sore elbow that knocked him out of Sunday’s game against the Browns might not be something that mere rest heals.

The MRI reportedly showed no structural damage.  But when Palmer was asked on Sunday whether the images revealed anything he’d deem “scary”, Palmer said:  “I’m not going to comment on everything.”

Ryan Fitzpatrick will start in Palmer's absence. More information is going to eventually come out, but it does not appear that Palmer will be available for this week's game in Dallas. The Bengals have gotten off to a disappointing 0-4 start. If Palmer is lost for an extended period of time we could be looking at a full-blown disaster.

It's hard to ignore, the Brett Favre vs. Aaron Rodgers talk outlasted the summer as many speculate which quarterback was the right choice for Green Bay. The talks intensified on Sunday as Brett Favre led the Jets to 56 points while throwing a career-best 6 TD's. Meanwhile, Rodgers struggled in Tampa Bay and suffered a seperated shoulder. Now aside from the stats and wins, Rodgers must deal with playing hurt. Favre always played hurt, evident by his 252 consecutive games started record. 

Regardless of what the Packers' grade in the move turns out to be, its a bit easier to declare a fantasy winner. Rodgers has over exceeded my expectations early on this season, but we are slowly seeing him fall back to where I anticipated. Even if he plays through the injury it will be tough for him to get back to 100% anytime soon.

Meanwhile, Favre is just getting heated up. He missed nearly all the preseason and little time to learn the offense and get accustomed with his wideouts. You started to see chemistry develop between Jerricho Cotchery and Favre right off the bat, but it has been over the past two weeks  that the Favre-to-Laveranues Coles' connection is starting to heat up. Coles had 6 catches for 75 yards and a TD last Monday night in San Diego and busted out 8 catches for 105 yards and three scores in Sunday's shootout vs. Arizona.

I indicated early on that Favre was my choice from a fantasy prospective and that sentiment has only been strengthened in the season's opening month. Both can prove to be valuable, but Favre is going to be worth starting on a much more consistent basis. Let's take a look at the numbers so far.

FAVRE (2-2) Completions - 87/124 (70.2%) Passing Yards - 935 Passing TD's - 12 Interceptions - 4 QB Rating - 110.8 (1st in NFL)

RODGERS (2-2) Completions - 78/126 (61.9%) Passing Yards - 961 Passing TD's - 6 Interceptions - 3 QB Rating - 91.4 (11th)

 

After starting 0-4 for the second straight year the St. Louis Rams have parted ways with head coach Scott Linehan. In his 36 games as the team's head coach Linehan managed to win only 11 games.  He will be replaced on an interim basis by defensive coordinator Jim Haslett, formerly a head coach with the New Orleans Saints.

An argument was made to keep Linehan in place, in part because Rosenbloom and Rodriguez wondered if their late mother, former Rams owner Georgia Frontiere, would have approved of firing Linehan. Before her death, Frontiere asked that Linehan be given a third season as head coach, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

But in the end, the team's stunning lack of competitiveness -- eight straight losses, and 17 losses in the last 20 games by an average of 18 points -- dictated a coaching change heading into the Rams' bye week.

It amazes me that in two weeks we've seen the winless Lions can team president Matt Millen and the Rams say c-ya to Linehan, yet Bengals' head coach Marvin Lewis is safely entrenched in mediocrity. The Bengals are a joke right now and there is no way Lewis is going to turn that around. 

Neither the Twins or the White Sox could take care of business this weekend to lock up the AL Central. Minnesota dropped two of three to the Royals over the weekend and Chicago couldn't take advantage, dropping two of three to Cleveland.

Both teams were able to get a win on Sunday. That leaves the White Sox 1/2 game behind the Twins and forces them to take on the Detroit Tigers today in a game that was originally postponed due to rain.  The Tigers were hoping for their season to end yesterday so it remains to be seen how much they will show up for the game this afternoon, but they are throwing White Sox-reject Freddy Garcia and that should keep it interesting. Knocking out the White Sox would be a perfect way for the Tigers, a team that was supposed to be a World Series contender, to finish the season.

Should the White Sox win today they will host the Twins on Tuesday night in an 1-game playoff to decide the division crown.

The playoffs start on Wednesday and the White Sox are just hoping to get there.

"We get paid to play 162 games, so we're going to get all of our money's worth," catcher A.J. Pierzynski told the Chicago Sun-Times. "Hopefully if we win, we'll get to play 163."

Not that No. 162 is going to be a cakewalk. Besides Garcia, don't think for a second that Tigers outfielder Magglio Ordonez wants to do his former team any favors.

"I'm sure the last thing [the Tigers] want to do is get on that plane,'' White Sox first baseman Paul Konerko said. "If I was them and I had to get on that plane, I would want to make it hurt."

From the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel... 

It wouldn't have happened if not for the arrival of CC Sabathia, the big lefty who cemented his place in Brewers lore forever more. Acquired in early July from Cleveland in a move designed to put the team over the top, Sabathia proved to be exactly that.

Pitching on short rest for the third consecutive start, Sabathia tossed a four-hitter against the Cubs, who played many of their regulars despite having clinched the NL Central crown several days ago. Sabathia walked one and struck out seven, showing no weariness during his 122-pitch masterpiece.

When Derrek Lee grounded into a double play to end the game, Sabathia punched the air with his fist and let out a mighty roar as the already substantial noise in the ballpark became deafening.

"I didn't even know I was that excited," said Sabathia, who went 11-2 with a 1.65 earned run average and seven complete games in 17 starts with the Brewers. 'Sheeter' (Ben Sheets) said, 'I like the emotion that you showed.' I didn't know what he was talking about.

Here's a quick list of injuries suffered on Sunday:

QUARTERBACKS
Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay Packers - shoulder - Tests pending
Gus Frerotte, Minnesota Vikings - cut left hand

RUNNING BACK
Correll Buckhalter, Philadelphia Eagles - shaken up - returned to game

WIDE RECEIVERS
Anquan Boldin, Arizona Cardinals - head - Taken to hospital; tests negative
Bradon Lloyd, Chicago Bears - hip - left game

TIGHT ENDS
Randy McMichael, St. Louis Rams - right ankle

DEFENSIVE LINE
Cullen Jenkins, Green Bay Packers - shoulder

LINEBACKERS
A.J. Hawk, Green Bay Packers - groin
E.J. Henderson, Minnesota Vikings

DEFENSIVE BACKS
Rashean Mathis, Jacksonville Jaguars - shin
Nick Collins, Green Bay Packers - back
Eric Green, Arizona Cardinals - sprained left knee
Lawyer Milloy, Atlanta Falcons - ribs