Peyton Manning being re-evaluated?
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind.-Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning is being re-evaluated by several doctors because of the slow progress in his rehab from offseason neck surgery, according to sources familiar with his medical condition.
However, the sources said that no new procedure on Manning's neck is scheduled at this time.
According to sources, multiple neurosurgeons have been consulted throughout the course of Manning's recovery, but they do not have a consensus reason for the slow pace. The sources added that Manning was still waiting for more information from doctors.
The Colts activated Manning from the physically-unable-to-perform list on Aug. 29 and cleared him to practice on a limited basis. However, sources said Sunday that he has not been able to throw anywhere near his pre-surgery capacity. Manning had been on the PUP list since the team's first training camp practice on Aug. 1 following the May procedure to repair a nerve in his neck.
Colts owner Jim Irsay, meanwhile, took to his Twitter account early Monday morning but didn't give any new updates about Manning's neck injury.
"There is nothing2say on Peyton's status except we move cautiously n deliberately on projecting,beyond day2day,his healing process n recovery," Irsay wrote.
Colts teammates insist they don't have any inside information, either.
"People I know absolutely nothing of the rumors bout 18.....y'all likely to find out before me," starting cornerback Jerraud Powers wrote on Twitter.
And nobody, not even the team owner, seems to have a final answer.
"I'm trying2prepare 12th Man as best I can," Irsay wrote later, referring to Colts fans. "BUCK UP."
Manning has started 227 consecutive games, including the playoffs, the second-longest streak in NFL history for quarterbacks behind Brett Favre. Of all the numbers Manning has put up over the years, the streak is the one he has usually said means the most.
Second-string quarterback Curtis Painter has struggled for the most part during preseason and the Colts signed 16-year veteran Kerry Collins out of retirement as a potential insurance policy.
When the Colts signed Collins on Aug. 25, team sources said that although Manning was making some progress since the surgery and has maintained optimism, the team's hierarchy does not believe he will be ready when Indianapolis opens the season Sept. 11 at Houston.
The surgery was originally expected to keep Manning off the field for six to eight weeks.
Instead, the recovery has gone slower than expected, something Manning has blamed, in part, on the 4½-month lockout that kept him away from team trainers.