If sixth-year quarterback Jim Sorgi takes his first snaps of the preseason Thursday at Cincinnati, he won’t be competing for his job with rookie Curtis Painter.

“It’s a situation where ‘Sorge’ is our backup guy right now,” Indianapolis Colts coach Jim Caldwell said Sunday. "He’s been here a long time. He knows our system, understands it.

“Obviously, Curtis has made a strong statement, but right now it kind of lines up the way it was when we first got started with Peyton (Manning) at the helm and Sorge backup to Peyton and then Curtis.”

Sorgi has missed the first three preseason games with a hamstring injury, but he returned to practice last week and the Colts plan to give him lots of work in the finale. Manning, the starter, hasn’t played the Colts’ final preseason game since 2004.

Painter is a sixth-round draft pick from Purdue. He has completed 30-of-50 passes for 338 yards and no touchdowns with two interceptions. He was 9-for-14 for 145 yards Saturday and led a drive from the Colts 1-yard line to the Lions 2 during an 18-17 loss at Detroit.

Caldwell called him a “quick study.”

“He still has a lot to learn, but Curtis continues to get better every opportunity he gets,” the coach said.

The Colts haven’t carried a third quarterback on their active roster since Travis Brown spent part of the 2004 season with them. The status of safety Bob Sanders (knee) and kicker Adam Vinatieri (knee) could determine whether there’s room for a third quarterback this year.

NFL rosters will be reduced from 80 to 75 Tuesday and to 53 Saturday.

“You never know,” Caldwell said. “It’s one of the things we evaluate all the time, and that’s the thing about this week coming up: We’ll take a real good look at where we are, look at our numbers and make an assessment from that and then make a decision.”