Jon Kitna missed his second straight day of practice with back spasms Thursday and his status for Sunday's game at Minnesota remains up in the air.

Backup quarterback Dan Orlovsky said he has no gut feeling one way or another who will be under center against the Vikings, and Kitna bee-lined out of the locker room without saying a word when reporters were let in following practice.

Offensive coordinator Jim Colletto said Kitna could play Sunday even if he misses another day of practice tomorrow.

"As I said before, all these things he's done a lot of times so it's not like he wouldn't know what to do," Colletto said. "It's not the most helpful (if he doesn't practice), but it doesn't rule him out."

Orlovsky remains the likely starter if Kitna can't go. Colletto said Thursday the gameplan "would be even further cut back if" No. 3 quarterback Drew Stanton was under center.

More notes from Thursday:

• Colletto said Stephen Peterman will miss his second game this weekend with a broken hand. "He can't play," Colletto said. "He can't grab. Somebody asked about their front guys, you're going to play with a cast on your hand with these guys? No way. So he's not ready to play yet."

• Running backs Kevin Smith and Rudi Johnson are expected to share carries again, though what order remains to be seen. Smith made his fourth straight start last Sunday after saying earlier in the week he'd been told by coaches that Johnson would start. Colletto said he intended to start the rookie Smith all along.

• Defensive coordinator Joe Barry said Brian Kelly was unintentionally held out of last week's loss to Chicago. Kelly, who lost his starting job with a poor performance against Green Bay, dressed but did not see the field as Keith Smith played as the Lions' third cornerback. Barry said the coaching staff realized Kelly did not play "in the locker room after the game." "It was just a mishap on our part that he didn't play," Barry said.

• Kelly said he believed Barry's explanation, but wasn't pleased nonetheless. "Obviously I was unhappy with it," he said. "I'm suited up to play. If I'm standing there with my T-shirt on and sweats and a Lions cap I know I'm not playing. But I was suited up to play and it didn't work out that way."

• Kelly, Dewayne White, Roy Williams and Cory Redding were mentioned in a Yahoo.com report listing 10 players with the most trade value possibly on the block heading into next week's deadline. "It would surprise me if I was not here," Kelly said.

• White said he doesn't want to go anywhere. "We're going to turn this thing around," he said. "You got to be in it for the good and the bad."