Fitzgerald getting better every day; Gandy, Rackers out

TEMPE, Ariz. - As the week has progressed so has Arizona Cardinal wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald's knee.

Fitzgerald has went through practice this week with a sore knee but the soreness is not enough to keep him off the field on Sunday according to Fitzgerald.

"Every day got better," Fitzgerald said after practice on Friday. "Feeling better than I was [Thursday] and I'll feel better [Saturday] than I'm feeling today and hopefully Sunday I'll be feeling my best."

The leading Cardinal wide receiver sprained his knee in the third quarter of the Cardinals Monday Night Football loss to the San Francisco 49ers.

An MRI on Tuesday morning showed Fitzgerald sprained his right knee and bruised the bone.

The final decision will be coach Ken Whisenhunt's and he likes what he has seen so far this week but will wait until Sunday before anything is decided.

"[Fitzgerald] got better everyday, so that was good and it was good to see him out there getting a few more reps today," Whisenhunt said Friday. "We'll see before the game but we're obviously very hopeful that he'll play."

Among other injury news from the Cardinals revolves around left tackle Mike Gandy.

Gandy has been bothered by a pelvic injury since late in the Tennessee game last month. He missed the game against Minnesota and then tried to play in the 49er game before having to come out.

The injury is still bothering Gandy and he will not play on Sunday.

"[Gandy's] not going to play just because it hasn't really recovered as we thought it would," Whisenhunt said. "We're going to send him to the doctor again and get it checked out one more time."

Another player the Cardinals will be without - and could be without for a couple of weeks - is kicker Neil Rackers. He has been dealing with an ailing right groin since before the game in St. Louis on November 22.

The Cardinals leave for Detroit on Saturday and hope to return with the division wrapped up.

If the Cardinals win and the 49ers lose - playing at Philadelphia - the Cardinals will win the NFC West.

Sports 620 KTAR's Johnny Villarreal contributed to this report.