Cal Football: Bears Still Hope QB Chase Garbers Can Play Saturday, But . . .

Garbers has not been cleared to play as of Wednesday

Cal quarterback Chase Garbers is participating in some aspects of practice this week, but as of Wednesday night he still had not been cleared to play in a game.

Cal coach Justin Wilcox said Wednesday night that it is still possible that Garbers could play in Saturday's Big Game at Stanford, but it as each day passes, it becomes increasingly more likely that Devon Modster will be the Bears starting quarterback against the Cardinal (4-6, 3-5 Pac-12).

"He's not been cleared but he was able to practic today," Wilcox said of Garbers after Wednesday's practice. "He and Chris Brown were able to do some practice work. Although they're not cleared today, they got some work in today and will get some more tomorrow. Day-to-day process for them."

Wilcox said specifically that if they are cleared Thursday, they could still play on Saturday. Theoretically, Wilcox could wait until Saturday morning to determine the status of Garbers and Brown if they are not cleared until then, although you would think he would rather make a decision before that.

"We just have to have more information," Wilcox said. "We don't have enough yet. They were both able to do things today, and we'll see where it's at tomorrow."

Unlike the last two weeks, there is no indication when or if Wilcox will announce his starting quarterback for Saturday's 1 p.m. contest. The past two weeks, he announced his starting quarterback on Friday, the day before the game.

There is always the possibility that the Bears staff has already made a decision about a starting quarterback and simply does not want to make that decision public. That does not seem to be the case here, although anything is possible.

Besides Garbers and Brown, safety Ashtyn Davis is considered questionable for Saturday's game. Unlike Garbers and Brown, Davis was unable to participate in practice this week, so presumably is more unlikely to play than Garbers or Brown.

In describing what Garbers was able to do at practice Wednesday, Wilcox said, "He threw the ball, took some team reps."

It's been reported countless times in these stories regarding Garbers' medical status, but it is worth repeating: Cal is 4-0 in games in which Garbers played more than a half, and 1-5 in games in which he didn't play at least a half.