Most questions at Joe Paterno's weekly press conference yesterday centered around his two quarterbacks. But when asked if either would be able to start against Illinois, Paterno was adamant about one thing.

He wasn't sure.

"To be frank with you, I really don't know what their status is. The doctors told me there's a period of four, five days of observation before they can make a decision," he said.

According to Paterno, Penn State will probably find out on Thursday whether it will be able to utilize one of the signal callers.

Both were in a similar condition, suffering from concussions, and neither practiced on Monday. However, Paterno planned on using both in non-contact drills yesterday.

If Anthony Morelli and Daryll Clark are unable to play, Paul Cianciolo will get the starting nod and Kevin Suhey will be his backup, Paterno said.

"It's a little bit of a dilemma for us right now, but there's an outside chance both of them can play -- and, hopefully, at least one can play," Paterno said.

Paterno said the Nittany Lions would prepare for the worst and would activate one of the freshman as the third-string quarterback if Morelli and Clark couldn't play. True freshman Pat Devlin, who was expected to redshirt, was mentioned by the 79-year-old coach as the one he'd work with.

"I hope we don't have to play him, but that's the way it is," he said.

Paterno didn't focus on his two signal callers the whole time, instead reflecting on the Michigan game and looking ahead to the Fighting Illini. He said he was comfortable going into Saturday's game and thought his team played "about as well as we can," but he was far from relaxed about this weekend's contest against a lesser opponent.

Illinois recently upset Michigan State and barely lost to an Indiana squad that Paterno labeled as underrated. Of course, his quarterbacks' injuries probably didn't help boost his confidence any.

"I'm nervous about the football game," he said. "The question was brought up about whether the kids'll bounce back. I'm not worried about them bouncing back.

"I'm worried about whether we'll be good enough in certain areas, whether we're ready whether we can get some of the kids who have bumps and bruises back and get enough practice out of them that I can feel comfortable we're ready to play."

Those two areas of concern had to do with the offensive line, Paterno said, and included doing a better job in pass protection during blitzes and hanging onto blocks longer.

Obviously, after allowing seven sacks in one game, the offensive line has to improve -- especially if it's protecting a less experienced quarterback in the pocket this Saturday.

Still, even if Morelli isn't cleared to play in contact drills until later in the week, Paterno said he wouldn't automatically rule him out until the doctors say he can't compete.

"You gotta do what's best for your football team," he said. "If Morelli's ready to play on Saturday, and if I don't play him because he didn't practice on Wednesday, I don't think that's fair to my football team."