Christian Ponder told reporters after Thursday's practice that he's been medically cleared to play and that he's been told the decision by the coaching staff, although he deferred to Coach Leslie Frazier to deliver that news.
It wasn't hard to read between the lines that Matt Cassel will start Sunday against Carolina with Ponder serving as the backup.
"I'll let Coach Frazier address that," Ponder said. I don't know when he's going to do it. But in regards to today, we split some reps and then it's Coach Frazier's call."
A few minutes later, Frazier told reporters that he wants to wait until after Friday's practice before choosing his starting quarterback.
Frazier was told that Ponder revealed that he's already been told and that his body language and tone made it clear he wasn't the starter.
"I think you'd have to go by what you think," Frazier said. "I don't want to read into what he said. I wasn't here when he said it. I want to see how they do tomorrow. That will help me clear up some things."
Ponder noted that "some of the dynamics of this organization have changed" this week with the arrival of Josh Freeman, who presumably will take over as the starter as soon as he's comfortable with the offense.
"It's a waste of energy and thought to think about what could happen and what might not happen," Ponder said in regards to his future. "I'm just trying to enjoy these moments because life in the NFL doesn't last long, whether you have a long career for 15 years. But when you look at it in life, 15 years out of – say – 90 years is a short window, so you got to enjoy every minute of it, even when things aren't going the best. And I'm going to see how it plays out. It'll be interesting to see."
