"How can I say this forcefully enough? Maybe through multiple choice.

If the Raiders start Carson Palmer at quarterback Sunday, after just three days of practice, they would be:

A. Crazy.

B. Crazier than that.

C. Desperately premature.

D. Prematurely desperate.

E. Risking injury to their new most valuable asset.

F. Risking a greater chance of defeat, which ultimately trumps all of the above.

You will notice that, among the choices, the word "brilliant" is not listed.

Come Sunday, I realize that this could all be moot. Palmer's cleats may never touch the field at O.co Coliseum against the Kansas City Chiefs.

Yet as of Wednesday afternoon, barely 24 hours after Palmer joined the Raiders in a stunning trade with the Cincinnati Bengals, there were enough hints that he indeed will take snaps in the game. Perhaps even the first snap. "