CINCINNATI -- Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer plans to test his right elbow in the next few days, giving him a better idea of whether he will need reconstructive surgery.

Palmer said Wednesday that he's still on schedule to throw a football at the end of the week, the first time he's done so in nine weeks.

The elbow was injured when his arm got hit as he threw a pass in the third game of the season against the Giants.

If Palmer's elbow is still bothering him when he resumes throwing, he'll likely have reconstructive surgery.

"Like I keep saying, if I knew I had to have the surgery, I'd already have it done," Palmer said Wednesday. "I'll see what the doctors say, have it checked out and go with a professional decision from a doctor."

Palmer partially tore a tendon and ligament from the bone in his right elbow. He rested one week, then played in a loss at Dallas on Oct. 5. He realized he couldn't throw the ball as hard as normal in that one, and began the recommended rehabilitation of two months' rest followed by some throwing.

Palmer has thrown a sponge football during his rehabilitation, but only about 10 yards.

"But it was accurate, though," he said. "A tight spiral."

He'll make some short throws with an NFL football at about half-speed at the outset.

"I'll just be starting to throw," he said. "You don't jump back on the bike and go off 10-foot jumps. You just kind of start 10-, 12-yard throws, 50 percent, 60 percent and so on, and then make a determination on the surgery – who knows? – a week, two weeks after that. It depends on how far in the progression I get."

The Bengals were 0-4 under Palmer and have gone 1-8-1 under backup Ryan Fitzpatrick. At 1-10-1, they have the second-worst record in the NFL, trailed only by the winless Detroit Lions.