CINCINNATI — Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer handed off during practice today but didn't participate in plays that called for a pass, part of the plan to help his sore elbow heal.

Palmer sat out a 20-12 loss to Cleveland on Sunday with a sore elbow, hurt a week earlier in a loss to the Giants. Coach Marvin Lewis plans to wait until late in the week to decide whether Palmer will play on Sunday in Dallas.

Backup Ryan Fitzpatrick ran most of the plays on offense today. He started against the Browns and threw three interceptions. Palmer thinks he can be ready to play against the Cowboys.

"We'll see how Carson does through the week and what the plan of the medical staff is," coach Marvin Lewis said. "We'll just follow that course and see how it comes out."

Palmer said the inflamed elbow is getting better. Although the injury is not considered serious, it could get worse if he tries to come back too quickly. He threw a football on Wednesday, though not in team drills.

"You don't want to over-stress what I've got going on," Palmer said. "When you do, that's when you start either getting tendinitis or start tearing things and requiring surgery later on down the road. So the training staff's going to take this thing as slow as possible and definitely have a long-term mindset, and make sure we're not pushing it too fast."