At least one of Terrell Owens’ former quarterbacks likes him.
Raiders quarterback Carson Palmer, who completed 72 passes to Owens during the 2010 season when they were teammates in Cincinnati, invited Owens along for a workout this offseason with Raiders receivers Darrius Heyward-Bey and Eddie McGee and tight end David Ausberry. Palmer said it was great for those youngsters to see how an old veteran like Owens works.
“It was great for them,” Palmer said, via Paul Gutierrez of CSNBayArea.com. “It’s good to be around that. I think it was good for them to see that’s what it takes if you want to play for a long time and you want to be successful and have yards and catches and touchdowns and all that and that’s what it takes to work.”
Although Owens has done plenty of things that deserve criticism, no one can criticize his work ethic: Owens is always in great shape, so it makes sense that Palmer would want the Raiders’ young receivers to see how Owens works during the offseason.
That does not, however, mean Palmer thinks the Raiders should sign Owens, who wants to get back in the NFL after missing all of 2011. Palmer suggested that there’s just not room on the Raiders’ depth chart for Owens.
“I love the guys we have,” Palmer said. “I don’t know where the spots are to be had. You can only carry so many receivers. . . . Training camp, at that position, is going to be really interesting because there’s a lot of guys. There’s too many guys.”
So Palmer likes Owens enough that he wants to work out with him in the offseason. But not enough that he wants to be his teammate again.