Reuters

Well, well, well. It looks like we’ve got a little ESPN-on-SI crime.

In response to a report from Jim Trotter of SI.com that 49ers quarterback Alex Smith has been told that Colin Kaepernick will start Sunday at New Orleans regarding of Smith’s health, ESPN producer Seth Markman has posted via Twitter that Smith has informed ESPN’s Trent Dilfer that the veteran quarterback has been told only that Kaepernick will get the first-team practice reps this week.

Per Dilfer (via Markman), Smith says that he still has a chance to start based on how he and Kaepernick perform in practice.

Dilfer and Smith were teammates for two years in San Francisco, from 2006 through 2007.

So it’s possible a decision hasn’t been made. And the situation already is taking on a life of its own, which won’t make it any easier for coach Jim Harbaugh to make a decision (if a decision hasn’t been made) and to get his team to support it without doubt or question or second-guessing.

UPDATE 12:04 a.m. ET, 11/22/12: Trotter has responded to the ESPN report via Twitter. “i have great respect for [Dilfer] and alex smith, and stand behind my report. harbaugh to alex: ‘I’m going with Kaepernick. Alex, I’m sorry.'”