No Manning For Colts This Season

Added on Dec 18, 2011 by Jack Thurman in

NFL

Peyton Manning has resumed throwing the football as he rehabs from neck surgery, which has prompted some speculation that he might try to play before the end of the season. Today the Colts said it’s not going to happen and Manning won’t be back this year.

Colts’ chairman Bill Polian gave a statement after Indianapolis’ first win of the season in which he suggested that Manning’s rehab isn’t far enough along to risk him to game action:

“It was determined by the doctors that there was no chance he (Manning) would play this year. His rehabilitation has not come far enough to make it prudent for him to step on the field in game action. He may practice in some very scripted and circumscribed circumstances if he wishes. That’s entirely up to him.”

Manning is trying to ramp up his rehab by working on his passing skills:

“Wednesday, after we finished our full team practice, Peyton went through a prescribed rehabilitation session, which consisted of about 30 throws and seven or eight handoffs. His throws were scripted at his request, meaning that he made specific throws with respect to the kinds of plays he would run in a ballgame. The reason for that is because the strength and conditioning folks and the therapy folks felt that was the best way to ramp up the muscle use.”

The Colts have kept Manning on the active roster all season in hopes he could return to practice, if not actual game play. Still, despite all of the speculation that Manning could return this year Polian’s statement is somewhat curious. It almost sounds as if he’s trying to paint a ‘glass half empty’ picture of Manning’s status which could be used as a rationalization for selecting Andrew Luck with the first pick in the NFL draft. Luck is not only the best quarterback available but likely the best all around player–despite this ‘no brainer’ selection there has been some heat over picking a franchise caliber quarterback with Manning’s status unsettled.

The good news for the Colts’ franchise is that they’re no longer winless–Indianapolis beat Tennessee at home on Sunday 27-13 as a +6′ NFL betting underdog.