By Mark Curnutte
The Cincinnati Enquirer

INDIANAPOLIS - Bengals coach Marvin Lewis hinted strongly Friday that Carson Palmer would open the season as starting quarterback ahead of incumbent Jon Kitna.

Lewis said that Palmer was drafted No. 1 overall to be the future face of the organization, that Palmer was no longer an unknown to his teammates, that the team's psyche could now handle the inevitable mistakes young quarterbacks make. He said he wished he had done more to prepare Palmer in 2003, that Palmer was the type of quarterback who could quickly make up for lost time, that the organization showed great patience in not rushing Palmer in 2003 and that Kitna would not cause problems if demoted.

"No question Jon did tremendous for our football team," Lewis said. "... He is a huge leader, as big a leader as we had on our team.

"If he's the starting quarterback and you yank him out of the game, how that's perceived has an effect on our players. If he's not the starting quarterback, (it) has an effect on our players. No question, our guys are going to have to deal with that at some point, and Jon is well aware of that."

Lewis addressed the Bengals' quarterback question in a news conference with NFL media from across the country and again in a private sit-down session with Cincinnati-area media during the league's annual scouting combine at the RCA Dome.

Lewis first opened the door for Palmer on Dec. 29, the day after the season finale, when the coach would not commit to Kitna as the starter for 2004. The only NFL quarterback to take every snap for his team, Kitna led the Bengals to an 8-8 record - just the franchise's second non-losing record in 13 seasons.

Pressed to announce his decision Friday, Lewis said, "I think it's something that will be addressed, but this isn't the time to do it here. That's not why we're here."

Kitna, who threw a career-high 26 touchdown passes and had an 87.4 passer rating, fifth-best in the AFC, was reached Friday by phone in San Diego at a professional Christian athletes conference.

Kitna said he and Lewis met recently and that Lewis was "open and honest with me."

Asked if Lewis had informed him of his decision, Kitna said, "Marvin will answer that (in the media) when he's ready."

Kitna continued by saying that if he were not the starter, he no longer would be a team or offensive unit spokesman in the media because "that would not be my job. That would be Carson's job."

Lewis said the decision is more difficult now than it was last year.

"Now we put ourselves two years behind, maybe, where we could be as a football team," he said. " If you're standing here a year from now and have won a world's championship, you feel pretty good about it. I don't know if we can sit here right now and see through the tea leaves like that."

Lewis said if he chooses Palmer, the job would be Palmer's to lose; the same conditions applied to Kitna in 2003. Lewis has said the starter would take the field with the offense at this year's first minicamp, May 7-9.

"I'm still trying to figure out how it's not going to be a big deal," Lewis said of the decision.

Lewis described how he used the Falcons' model of handling of then-rookie Michael Vick in 2001 to get ideas of how to keep Palmer ready.

"We devoted our bye week to that," Lewis said. "We devoted extra practice time to that. We moved him to second quarterback in the mid part of our season. We tried to take the steps, and I wish I had done more, actually, to prepare him.

"I'm confident we have a guy in Carson who is kind of a gym rat who loves football, who loves to spend the time, (and) I think in that way he can make up the time quickly."

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E-mail mcurnutte@enquirer.com

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