By Mark Curnutte
Enquirer staff writer

Jon Kitna (right) is an ideal mentor for first-year starting quarterback Carson Palmer. "Anything that is gray in Carson's mind, Jon knows exactly how to clear it up," one Bengals coach says. The Enquirer/STEVEN M. HERPPICH

GEORGETOWN, Ky. - A funny thing happened in the Bengals' quarterback switch from Jon Kitna to Carson Palmer.

Nothing.

"You didn't notice," is how defensive tackle John Thornton describes it.

Credit for the smooth transition goes primarily to Kitna, whose professionalism is benefiting Palmer and team. True to his word, Kitna has supported Palmer in deed in the first two weeks of training camp.

Saturday night in the preseason opener at Tampa Bay, Palmer will make his first start since the Orange Bowl on Jan. 2, 2003. And he'll have no bigger fan than Kitna, who finds himself Palmer's backup, even though Kitna had a Pro Bowl-caliber season in 2003.

This training camp is Kitna's fourth with the Bengals, and, he said, his most peaceful.

"This is the first year I've come to camp and known exactly where I stand," he said.

"My job is really to be as supportive as I can and make Carson's job as easy as possible."

Kitna's peace of mind has translated into better football.

"You don't want Jon to begin pressing things because of his zest to try to play," coach Marvin Lewis said Thursday.

"He has been extremely sharp. He's a better player than he was a year ago. He's improved, and hopefully the rest of our football team has improved as much as Jon Kitna."

In 2003, a season in which he was the only NFL quarterback to play all of his team's offensive snaps, Kitna had a career-best 26 touchdown passes and led the Bengals to an 8-8 finish, just their second non-losing record in the past 13 seasons.

But Lewis hinted the day after the season's last game that he was planning a move to Palmer, a decision he announced March 1.

"Once Marvin told me, and once he made the public announcement, I went through a brief disappointment process, which was very brief for me, maybe 10 days," Kitna said.

But a new contract from the Bengals, which Kitna signed April 20, helped him move on.

Heading into the final season of his original four-year contract with the Bengals, Kitna signed a one-year extension that kept his 2004 salary at $3.375 million, paid him a $2.375 million signing bonus and made his 2005 salary contingent on whether he started or backed up. His $1 million base for 2005 will go to $2 million if he plays 70 percent of the snaps, and $3 million if it's 80 percent.

The extension was the second time in as many years the Bengals rewarded Kitna financially. Though he finished six snaps short of reaching an 80-percent playing time bonus worth an additional $1.625 million during the 2002 season, the Bengals added a pair of two-point conversions into the equation and bumped up his 2003 base salary.

At training camp, Kitna and Palmer share a quad with the team's other two quarterbacks, Casey Bramlet and Scott Rislov. But it's Kitna and Palmer who are inseparable.

During practice, they talk between plays. They're sitting side by side in meetings. They've gotten away from the grind of camp to golf.

"They truly just enjoy each other and have a friendship," quarterbacks coach Ken Zampese said. "They are truly excited when the other guy does well."

And at work: "Anything that is gray in Carson's mind, Jon knows exactly how to clear it up. He calms the anxiety because he knows how to say things in a way that's easy to understand."

Said Palmer simply, "Jon's been great, just to have around and ask questions."

But Palmer isn't the only recipient of Kitna's advice. In practice Thursday afternoon, Kitna talked with rookie wide receiver Maurice Mann after they hooked up on a pass completion. As Zampese says, "The chemistry he brings to this group, we can never gauge it, but it's more than we'll ever know."

But Palmer is Kitna's top priority.

"Mainly, it's just keeping Carson in a relaxed state of mind," he said. "Since we've been in camp, he has to know there is no animosity between us. I'm not trying to go behind his back and undermine anything he's trying to do. I want him to perform to the best of his ability."

E-mail mcurnutte@enquirer.com