History tells us Peyton Manning will be fine. Every offseason the Colts’ franchise player has some sort of minor injury or minor procedure done and is back in time for the start of the regular season. After shaking off a little rust, Manning is always back to being Manning by week 4 if not sooner. Will that be the case this season, or is Manning’s neck injury more serious than we all assume?
We do know one thing: the Colts are at least searching for a veteran backup quarterback in case Manning is not ready by the start of the season. In fact, Indy owner Jim Irsay is asking for the fans help in choosing which quarterback to sign.
“We r evaluating the QB sitch,#18 healing but we got 2 b prepared 4 early season possibility without him,defense has 2 pick it up,big time!” Irsay wrote on Twitter.
“Not taking Pryor…what VET QB would u vote 4 to sign that’s out there? If sum1 has 2 hold the fort early season,who u going with?”
It is far from panic time. Irsay is pretty much stating the obvious at this point considering Manning has not been cleared to play. But with Curtis Painter as the team’s primary backup, Manning is as valuable today for the Colts as he ever was. Peyton has been relatively healthy throughout his entire career, and we all know he’s not getting any younger. Having a solid veteran backup is probably a wise idea. Letting the fans help choose said backup? Maybe not so much.
