CINCINNATI — One replay was all Carson Palmer needed to see.

The Pro Bowl quarterback won't dwell on the play that doomed the Bengals' first playoff appearance in 15 years. He tore a knee ligament on his first pass during a 31-17 loss to Pittsburgh.

Palmer slowly shuffled around the locker room on metal crutches Monday, unsure when he'd have reconstructive surgery and unable to say definitively that he'll be fully recovered in time for training camp.

As for the tackle that led to it all, Palmer said Kimo von Oelhoffen did nothing.

"I don't know Kimo personally," Palmer said. "From what I've heard, he's a classy guy. Football is football. I don't think it was malicious at all. He's a guy with a high motor that plays hard and was playing hard.

"It just happened. I don't think in any way he was trying to do anything. It's just part of the game."

The Steelers lineman was stumbling as he came off a block and lunged at Palmer's legs on his first pass Sunday, crashing into the side of his left knee. Palmer tore the anterior cruciate ligament when the leg bowed.

He couldn't bear to watch the replay.

"I saw it once," he said, with a pained expression. "I didn't need to see it a whole bunch more than that."

Although Palmer absolved von Oelhoffen, coach Marvin Lewis thought the officials should have penalized him for a late hit. No flag was thrown on the play, a 66-yard completion to Chris Henry.

"That kind of play is the play by the rules in place to be a penalty," Lewis said Monday. "The official didn't see it that way. I think everybody who knows Kimo knows he plays hard. He's not a bad player or bad person. He's a good person. But it's unfortunate and it happened."

Palmer expects to have reconstructive surgery soon. Every injury is different, so there's no way to tell precisely when he'll be ready to play again. The typical recovery time is six to nine months.

Although Palmer hopes to be ready for the start of training camp in six months, he knows he can't afford to push too hard in rehabilitation and suffer a setback.

"There's definitely a timeline," he said. "But I'm not going to be stupid about it. I realize I've made a commitment to this organization for the future, and I need to think about that, too.

"I'm not going to do anything that's going to affect me in a couple of years or later on this next football season. I'm going to take precautions. I'm going to work as hard as I can without doing too much."

That means that his backup will have to run the offense during minicamp, and maybe longer. Jon Kitna is a free agent after the season. Lewis declined to talk about Kitna's future on Monday, but Palmer lobbied for him to stay.