49ers vs. Saints injury report: Alex Smith remains in black jersey

The 49ers and Saints released their Thursday practice participation reports, and not a whole lot has changed. The Saints saw a few modest changes, while the 49ers remain the same as Wednesday. This means Alex Smith is still practicing in his black no-contact jersey and remains not cleared for playing.

Greg Roman met with the media before practice on Thursday and was asked about the quarterback position. He said no decision has been made, although I'd imagine we're dealing with a variety of semantics arguments with this whole thing. Roman said Smith and Colin Kaepernick are splitting reps for now, and the team hopes that Smith will be cleared to play by Friday.

Last week, Roman was asked whether Alex was getting his normal amount of reps and he said "Thereabouts." Of course, it turns out the reps changed a bit as the week wore on. I think the coaching staff is plenty fine playing word games to keep things as much on the down low as possible. Of course, I figure the Saints are prepping more for Kaepernick than Smith at this point, so the word games might not end up mattering entirely.

Here are the full reports for Thursday:

49ers
Limited participation: CB Tarell Brown (knee), CB Chris Culliver (shoulder), S Dashon Goldson (ribs, calf), QB Alex Smith (concussion)

Full participation: LB Tavares Gooden (shin), RB Frank Gore (wrist, ribs), WR Randy Moss (finger), LB Aldon Smith (shoulder), S C.J. Spillman (finger), DT Will Tukuafu (wrist, wrist), LB Patrick Willis (shoulder)

Saints
Did not participate: T Charles Brown (knee), DE Junior Galette (ankle), LB Ramon Humber (illness), CB Elbert Mack (concussion), CB Corey White (knee)

Limited participation: T Zach Strief (groin)

Full participation: RB Darren Sproles (hand)