Carson Palmer suffered a torn ACL in November, which would normally put him on a path to return by the time the Arizona Cardinals opened up training camp.
However, coach Bruce Arians said Tuesday on SiriusXM NFL Radio that Palmer is already "so far" ahead of schedule.
"He's hoping to be back for the mandatory minicamp," Arians said, per ESPN.com. "I wouldn't put it past him to be to be out there in some of the OTAs."
January optimism from coaches isn't anything new in the NFL, so we'd be surprised if Palmer participated any time before minicamp and the team could decide to hold him back until training camp to be safe.
Arians added that injured backup Drew Stanton "should be ready to go" by the time offseason work begins.
Getting the signal-callers 100 percent healthy for the start of the 2015 season is the most important goal after Arians watched his promising year torpedoed by a quarterback quagmire.
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