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The Browns second-year receiver, banished to the practice squad for each of the first three games, will be the third receiver Sunday against the Ravens if Tim Carter cannot play. Carter missed practice Wednesday and Thursday with a knee injury. Carter missed time in preseason with a hamstring injury and additional time with a thumb injury. He healed slowly both times.
"In this business, all it takes is a little chance," said Wilson, who caught only two passes last year. "When I get my opportunities and make plays, everything else will be forgotten about."
Wilson was a third-round draft choice from Oklahoma in 2006. He said he was the best receiver in the draft and then got on Romeo Crennel's bad side by holding out. He was inactive in nine games and did not start until the final game of his rookie year.
Wilson caught the ball better as a rookie than he did in this past training camp. He said he averaged a drop a game in preseason and acted as though it was not an issue. What is an issue for him is arriving at a stadium Sunday expecting to play and finding out he is on the inactive list. He should be used to being deactivated by now, but he isn't.
"If we had an hour to talk about what it feels like on the inside, I couldn't even describe it," Wilson said. "I'm a competitor. That's why on game day I stay to myself. It tears you apart.
"I go the whole week thinking I'm playing and then find out that morning I'm not. It's a sick feeling. You can let it affect you and get in your head, or you can use it as motivation to work harder every day. That's what I do."
Crennel said Wilson would play ahead of Josh Cribbs because he doesn't want to spread Cribbs too thin. Cribbs is valuable as a punt returner and kick returner and on coverage.
Slumping Irish
Notre Dame is 0-4 for the first time in the 119-year history of the school.
Last year, whenever the fact Brady Quinn did not win big games came up, Irish coach Charlie Weis said the reason Notre Dame was as successful as it was was because of Quinn. Now Weis is believable.
"I don't think they foresaw the season going the way it is now, but I know they're hard at work trying to get things back, because that's how (Weis) is," Quinn said.
Injury front
- Tight end Kellen Winslow Jr. was held from practice for a second straight day because of a partially dislocated left shoulder. He plans on playing, but if doctors say he cannot, Crennel expects the offense to suffer.
"We might not be able to do as much, as far as moving that position around because the talent is a different level," Crennel said. "But we're not changing the offensive system. The guys we have available, they'll step up and they'll do what they're capable of doing."
- Dave Zastudil punted for the second straight day. Scott Player will punt against the Ravens if Zastudil's strained oblique hasn't healed completely. Zastudil missed the first game, punted twice in the second and did not punt in the third.
- Linebacker Willie McGinest (back) and safety Gary Baxter (knees) practiced on a limited basis.
