Bill Polian plans to keep Peyton Manning on the active roster all season, even if it means the star quarterback will only be back to practice.
While the Colts’ vice chairman isn’t completely ruling out a late cameo appearance this season by the four-time Most Valuable Player, he’s hoping Manning will be able to throw at the official practice sessions before the season ends.
Manning has not practiced with his teammates much since January’s playoff loss to the New York Jets.
He worked out with some Colts players during the lockout before scaling things back after having neck surgery in May to repair a damaged nerve that caused weakness in his throwing arm. Just about everyone, including Manning, thought he’d be ready by training camp.
When the recovery didn’t go as planned, Manning opened the season on the physically unable to perform list, missed all four preseason games and wound up having another procedure, an anterior spinal fusion to clear up the problem just three days before the season opener in Houston, Texas.
The fusion normally involves making an incision in the front of the neck, removing soft disk tissue between the vertebrae and fusing the bones together with a graft.
It was Manning’s third neck surgery in 19 months, and doctors who were not involved in the procedure said Manning wouldn’t be cleared to practice for at least two months.
Since then, Manning has been seen walking briskly around the team’s practice fields, teammates have said he attends meetings and provides advice and Polian has told listeners of his weekly radio show that Manning has gradually “ramped up” his activity.
On Oct. 6, Manning told reporters he’d finally been cleared to stand on the sideline, a major sign of progress because he could take an inadvertent hit.
However, with eight straight losses and with the playoffs seemingly out of reach, there’s one big reason to push Manning to practice — finding out how close Indy’s franchise quarterback is to 100 percent.
“That is much more important to us because we know he’s not going to play six or seven more years,” Polian said, reiterating that Manning is nearing the end of his career and again pointing out that Manning needs to feel he can still play at a high level.
Manning signed a five-year, US$90 million deal in late July, just before camp opened. The team can opt out of the deal after this season, though nobody in the organization has discussed the possibility.
And if they have the No. 1 draft pick, many believe they will take Andrew Luck as Manning’s eventual successor.
However, it’s unlikely the Colts would play Manning in meaningless games next month when they haven’t played him much in previous Decembers after the Colts traditionally clinch their playoff seeding. And there’s another reason for keeping him on the bench this year, too.
Indy was already trying to rebuild the line this season after using a first-round draft pick on tackle Anthony Castonzo and a second-round pick on tackle Ben Ijalana. However, injuries have forced the Colts to replace three opening-day starters along the line and move a fourth to another position.
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