SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- When Arizona Cardinals quarterback Carson Palmer woke up Monday morning, his right shoulder felt "great."
And it stayed that way.
"It felt great all day," Palmer told ESPN.com on Monday night.
"I treated it today and it definitely was tired after the game, but felt really good."
Now it's on to the next step for Palmer: taking as many reps as possible this week in practice with a return to Oakland on the horizon for Sunday.
Palmer said he won't throw until Wednesday, but Cardinals coach Bruce Arians said the plan is for the 34-year-old to do "hopefully everything" in practice. Palmer doesn't know how long it'll take to regain the full strength in his arm, which he called "weak" after Sunday's win over Washington.
"I hope to get as many reps in as possible because I need them," he said.
"It's going to take a while. It's going to take at least a week of throwing, I would think. It's kind of what I'm expecting to really get it back. It just needs to get back in shape. It's just out of shape. It's like sitting on the couch after training camp -- you have a knee issue or high ankle sprain, you just get out of shape, you get out of the football shape. My arm's out of throwing shape, and that'll come back."
Sunday's 30-20 win over the Redskins was Palmer's first action since he injured his shoulder Week 1 against San Diego. Against Washington, he threw for 250 yards and two touchdowns, completing 28 of 44 attempts.
Cardinals coach Bruce Arians said Monday he was concerned about a potential setback. The last time Palmer threw consistently for a few days during Arizona's bye week, the axillary nerve in his throwing shoulder went back to sleep, erasing any progressing and putting Palmer's return on hold.
But when Palmer woke up feeling healthy Monday, Arians was relieved.
"I was concerned until I saw him [Monday]," Arians said. "Now he feels great so we should be able to just get better and better and get stronger."