CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Carolina Panthers quarterback Chris Weinke returned to practice Wednesday after missing a week because of a sore throwing shoulder.

Weinke split time throwing to the first unit with Matt Lytle, who made his first career start last week. Panthers coach George Seifert had them practice that way in case Weinke can't play Sunday against San Francisco.

"We wanted to split them up because we don't know how this is ultimately going to work out," Seifert said. "So we wanted to make sure that Matt was ready to go, too."

But Weinke thinks he might be ready to go, especially after watching the Panthers (1-8) lose their eighth straight game last week.

All he could do was helplessly look on as Lytle struggled through a 48-14 loss to St. Louis, trying his best to pick up a few tips from observing someone else running the offense.

"You see the game from a different perspective," Weinke said. "You get to sit back and watch, and sometimes that's good, sometimes that can help you."

Weinke has struggled through his rookie season, completing 56 percent of his passes for 1,590 yards, six touchdowns and 12 interceptions. He's been sacked 11 times.

But Lytle fared no better in his fill-in time, going 15-for-25 for 126 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions against the Rams.

Although the Panthers want Weinke back on the field against the 49ers (6-2), Seifert said he wouldn't know if he'll be ready to go until the end of the week. Much will depend on how Weinke feels on Thursday, a day after throwing for the first time in seven days.

Weinke said he was encouraged just to be able to throw the football, but was waiting to see how he felt before making a prediction on his playing status.

"A week ago at this time I wasn't able to throw," he said. "So we'll just see how it goes. I haven't necessarily tested it, so I don't know if it will fatigue before the end of the week or not."