Daunte Culpepper, the starter the last five games, didn't practice Wednesday and Thursday because of an injured shoulder. Asked if he ruled out Culpepper, coach Rod Marinelli said: "Yes, but I always want to leave you some wiggle room."

Orlovsky, the starter the four games before Culpepper's signing, slammed his helmet to the turf Thursday after missing some throws in individual drills. But he attributed that to rust more than his injury.

"My thumb feels 100 percent," Orlovsky said. "I don't have any ill effects from the past injury. I feel completely confident that I won't have any ill effects from it."

Asked if he was telling the truth, Orlovsky smirked and said: "I'm always trying to tell the truth."

Why did Orlovsky say Wednesday he would miss some throws because of the thumb?

"Because I was anticipating waking up and it being pretty sore," Orlovsky said. "I woke up today and it felt pretty well. We did some more treatment today. Going out and practicing today, I didn't brace it or tape it up today compared to yesterday. I didn't have any effects from it. I didn't think about it or anything. It felt good."

The situation seems another indictment of the coaches' confidence in Drew Stanton, a second-round pick last year who has missed a lot of practice time because of injuries and has appeared in only two games, with no starts.

Marinelli said reporters shouldn't read much into it, however.

"We've got a lot of confidence in him, and he's going to be a heck of a player," Marinelli said. "Any time you get banged-up like that and miss practice time, it's hard."

Stanton was asked if he would like a fresh start somewhere else.

"I like being here," Stanton said. "I love being in the city of Detroit, and I want to be here for a long time. When I showed up two years ago, I said that I wanted to be part of the solution, and I'm still determined to do that."

Stanton was asked if he needed to go elsewhere to jump-start his career.

"I don't know," Stanton said. "It's really hard to say. Like I said, I'm going to try to make the most of my opportunities when they come. I'd like to think they drafted me in the second round for a reason."

SERIES HISTORY: 40th regular-season meeting. Colts lead, 19-18-2. Peyton Manning carved up the Lions on Thanksgiving 2004, throwing six touchdown passes in only three quarters in a 41-9 Indianapolis victory. Detroit is 2-3 vs. Colts since they left Baltimore. This is the Lions' first trip to Lucas Oil Stadium.