If Indianapolis Colts S Bob Sanders is going to play Sunday, he said the news won’t be coming from him.

But Sanders also said this:

That he feels good after practicing twice this week, and that he hasn’t had any problems with his knee.

Sanders, the Associated Press 2007 NFL Defensive Player of the Year, practiced Wednesday on a limited basis and also worked Friday.  He has missed the first four games of the season after spending preseason on the Physically Unable to Perform list with a knee injury.

The workouts marked the first time he had practiced this season.

 ”Feels pretty good,” Sanders said Friday afternoon in his first comments to the media in several weeks. “Can’t really say much else about it except I feel good; I’m excited to be back out there.”

Colts Head Coach Jim Caldwell said earlier in the day Sanders was progressing and that he wasn’t certain about the two-time Pro Bowl selection’s status for Sunday night’s game at Tennessee.

Sanders also said, “not sure yet.”

“We haven’t made a decision on that,” Sanders said. “If you hear anything, you’ll hear it from coach Caldwell. I won’t be making any decisions personally on that.”

Sanders, who missed 10 games last season and 12 in 2006, said he responded favorably this week following the practices.  

“I feel good,” Sanders said. “I haven’t really had any problems. I’ve got a lot more work to do; I’m getting my time in, fits and all that stuff back to where it has been and just keep going. As long as we don’t have any setbacks I think I’m going to be cool.”

Throughout his career, Sanders has stressed the need to balance his desire to play with the necessity of approaching returning from injuries in an intelligent, prudent manner. He did so again Friday.

“As a player, you always want to play but you’ve also got to be a little realistic about your injuries and your surgeries and all that,” he said. “I’m just taking my time and when I’m ready and it’s time to get out there, I’ll definitely be out there.”

IFR Analysis: As is typically the case with Sanders, it’s still a bit hard to predict his playing status for Sunday night. Without question this is the closest he has been to playing this season and the likelihood is nothing will be known until shortly before kickoffs Sunday. The positive news for the Colts would appear to be that whether of not Sanders plays Sunday he is close and it appears he will be available after the bye week.