Coach Bo Pelini stopped short of making it official, but indicated after Thursday’s practice that running back Rex Burkhead is not expected to play Saturday.

Pelini characterized Burkhead’s status as “doubtful” for the Arkansas State match-up. He said Burkhead’s knee (sprained MCL) will continue to be evaluated, but the senior will not play until he’s “absolutely 100 percent.”

In other injury related news, senior defensive end Eric Martin, who hobbled off the field late in Saturday’s loss to UCLA, is “fine,” Pelini said. And actually, Martin apparently practiced quite well this week. Said Pelini: “This week he’s back to the same Eric we know. He’s comfortable.”

Also, Pelini said cornerback Mo Seisay was limping a bit in pregame last week, but the junior college transfer is much healthier now. Most importantly, Seisay’s been getting lots of work during the week. “Mo took a large amount of practice reps this week so I think he’s a lot more ready to play,” Pelini said.

More notes from Pelini’s post-practice conversation with reporters…

>> Is there a chance that true freshman receiver Jordan Westerkamp won’t redshirt this year? Pelini left the door open Thursday. Nebraska’s rotation is down to six after injuries to Tim Marlowe (broken clavicle) and Tyler Wullenwaber (torn ACL). Will Westerkamp play Saturday? “We’ll see,” Pelini said. “But he’s ready to play.”

>> Expect to see both junior Zaire Anderson and redshirt freshman David Santos at weakside linebacker. How much they play depends on the Arkansas State formations, Pelini said. But neither separated himself this week and the plan, at this point, is to play “a combination of both,” Pelini said.

>> In the shotgun formation Saturday at UCLA, senior center Justin Jackson had a number of low snaps to quarterback Taylor Martinez. Jackson’s been working on it, according to Pelini. “He’s a prideful guy,” Pelini said of Jackson. “He’ll fix it.”