STATE COLLEGE -- The two biggest offseason questions surrounding Penn State football remain unanswered, and there are just four days till the opener.

Who's the starting quarterback? And where will Joe Paterno coach from?

It's anyone's guess at this point, as Paterno, 84, declared himself "50-50" for being on the sideline vs. Indiana State after walking into the Beaver Stadium media room Tuesday with a cane. He's feeling better since accidentally getting leveled in practice three weeks ago by a receiver, injuring his right shoulder and pelvis.

"I've got some medical people who want me upstairs and I want to be downstairs," Paterno said. "That being upstairs is for the birds."

The notoriously stubborn Paterno appears to be having another tug-of-war with his doctors. They are urging caution while Paterno wants to be where he's most comfortable -- on the field.

"I've made good progress. I'm walking around with the cane. I could probably get by without the cane right now, but I can't move fast yet and I have trouble moving out of the way of some things," Paterno said. "But today is Tuesday. I got three more days, four more days before I have to really make up my mind what I'm going to do."

If Paterno has made up his mind about his starting quarterback, he's not ready to share his selection.

Both Rob Bolden and Matt McGloin will play Saturday, Paterno said, and both have improved enough this offseason that "the quarterback situation is not one of my concerns right now."

When pressed if he had settled on a starter, Paterno said, "I don't think it makes any difference. They're both going to play. We've got three days of practice.

"We'll see what happens."

Bolden last year was the first true freshman to open the season at quarterback in Paterno's head-coaching career, which began in 1966. Bolden struggled at midseason, then suffered a concussion before Matt McGloin took over for good in November.

McGloin, a former walk-on, threw for 14 touchdowns and nine interceptions, and seemingly had a hold on the starting job until tossing five interceptions in the 37-24 loss to Florida in the Outback Bowl in January. Bolden didn't play in the bowl game, finishing with five scores and seven interceptions in 2010.

Both Bolden and McGloin have split first-team reps in August. Both, Paterno said, have made the kinds of preseason improvements expected from players benefiting from a year of experience.

"To be honest, there's no real way that (if) one person plays and another person plays, that it changes up the offense that much," right tackle Chima Okoli said. "In the mind of Joe ... if he's not ready to pick one, then it's the fairest way to go."

And in Okoli's mind, there's not much of a difference, either, if Paterno is on the sideline or in the press box Saturday -- though he still is excited by the prospect of having a recovering Paterno on the field.

"Maybe the refs get yelled at a little bit less when he's not there. I think they scan up (in the press box) and they're happy," Okoli joked. "But there's not too much of a difference."

Notes:

---Punter/kicker Anthony Fera is not starting -- and won't play -- because of some disciplinary problems.

Paterno said he doesn't even know when Fera might be back.

"Anthony got himself in a couple of jams," Paterno said. "He should know better. We're going to play it by ear. We're going to sit him out until I'm sure he has some responsibility to himself, his family, the squad and the whole program. He's a good kid. It wasn't serious in a sense that it harmed anybody."

Without Fera, Paterno admitted he was concerned about the kicking game. He did say Alex Butterworth has punted well, and Gettysburg High graduate Evan Lewis has a chance to be a good kicker.

"Fera is a loss for us," Paterno said. "How big a dropoff it's going to be and how badly it's going to affect us, we won't know until we play a couple of games and see how they handle some pressure. But right now, I'm optimistic."

---Paterno confirmed that backup running back Stephfon Green is back after the senior left the team temporarily for undisclosed reasons.

"Green had gotten into a couple of situations, some of it academic, some of it otherwise," Paterno said Tuesday. "He went to work and proved to me he deserves another shot."

Green isn't listed on the tailback depth chart.

---Defensive lineman Jarron Jones from Rochester, N.Y., who had earlier given Penn State a "soft" verbal commitment, only to later change his mind, now says he'll play for Notre Dame.

The five-star recruit made his announcement on Monday. Jones (6-7, 308) is rated the 13th-best player nationally according to CBS Sports Network.

---Penn State players voted on captains this week, but coaches as of Tuesday afternoon hadn't yet released results of the voting.