FARGO – North Dakota State senior quarterback Carson Wentz is returning to practice this week, but the jury is still out on whether he's going to play Saturday in the FCS quarterfinal playoff game against Northern Iowa.

Bison head coach Chris Klieman said Wentz threw individually to receivers late last week. He was seen throwing a few 10-yard passes before the Bison started warmups prior to the second round win over Montana on Saturday. Wentz did not dress for the game.

"He did some good things," Klieman said. "We'll progress him into practice this week. The brace is off his arm and he pitched it around a little bit. I'm not saying he'll play but he'll practice this week. We'll see what happens"

Wentz broke his wrist against the University of South Dakota in October, an injury that had an original timetable of six to eight weeks. It was also to a bone that is considered a slow healer, so expecting Wentz to return sooner than that was probably out of the question.

Klieman, in fact, said two weeks ago following NDSU's regular season finale that he didn't expect Wentz to be ready for any playoff game-no matter how far the Bison got.

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That tone has apparently changed.

"He said he felt pretty good," Klieman said. "We'll see where he's at tomorrow. ... If he progresses in practice and is comfortable and confident enough, he will play."

The Northern Iowa game on Oct. 10 was the last time Wentz played an entire game healthy, leading the Bison on a final-minute drive throwing an 18-yard touchdown pass to Darrius Shepherd with 35 seconds remaining in the 31-28 victory.

Freshman Easton Stick took over for Wentz starting at Indiana State and has led the Bison to six straight victories. But Klieman stopped short of addressing any depth chart developments should Wentz be healthy enough to play.

"I didn't say that, I just said we're going to progress him and see if he'll be able to play," he said. "I didn't say he'll play in front of Easton, I did not say that. I'm not going to make any statements about that kid (Wentz) playing or not playing. He's just going to get involved in practice this week."

Other than Wentz, Klieman said NDSU will enter the UNI game relatively healthy. Running back King Frazier was held out of practice Monday with an unknown minor ailment but was expected to return Tuesday.