Peyton Manning Being Cautious During Lockout

Added on Jul 08, 2011 by Jack Thurman in

NFL

The ongoing NFL labor dispute is hopefully nearing a resolution, but until a deal is finalized NFL teams and their employees can’t have any contact with their players. That’s bad not only for younger players, who would ordinarily be receiving training and coaching right now, but for veterans as well. Case in point–Peyton Manning who has had his activity limited due to off season surgery and is being ‘cautious’ without the benefit of the Colts’ physical training staff.

Manning had surgery in May to fix a bulging disk in his neck and he’s being cautious with his rehab:

“The lockout didn’t allow me to work my (Colts) therapist, Erin Barill, and I’m just not comfortable taking any chances with this thing. Erin knows me. He’s rehabbed me through two other surgeries (neck and knee) and I think most people understand that once you build up a trust with your therapist, that’s the guy you want and need to work with.”

The surgery was Manning’s second neck related operation in 15 months. At age 35, he knows he can’t afford any significant setback.

Of concern to the Colts is Manning’s status for training camp, the preseason schedule and the start of the regular season. Until he’s evaluated by Barill, Manning says he has ‘no idea’ on when he can begin training camp activities.

Manning has been vague about the surgery itself, saying that it was ‘not elective’ but the result of an MRI which was sent to a number of ‘top specialists’. Manning didn’t give any indication that he’d miss any regular season action but did make it sound that his participation in training camp activities were very much in doubt.

While Peyton Manning is being cautious with his injury, the sports betting public is being cautious about the Colts’ fortunes during the 2011 season. Current futures betting odds for the Super Bowl winner have the Colts installed as a +1900 choice to win the big game. That’s behind 10 other teams–the Green Bay Packers (+740) and New England Patriots (+750) are the current favorites followed by the San Diego Chargers, Pittsburgh Steelers, Atlanta Falcons and New Orleans Saints.