INDIANAPOLIS - Peyton Manning Thursday addressed the speculation about his future with the Colts.
Speaking from the locker room, the injured quarterback talked for over ten minutes about the possibility of the Colts getting Andrew Luck as the first round NFL draft pick next year, his thoughts on the various sports shows that have floated the idea of the Colts trading him, and being on the active roster.
Recovering from surgery
Manning said December would mark a checkpoint where doctors would assess his progress after neck surgery.
Manning talked about his slow recovery from neck surgery, which has kept him on the sidelines all season. He said he's still waiting for the fusion to take place. He said that can take up to three months, and it's been a slow healing process.
"This surgery gave me the most stability for the nerves to regenerate. It's still a process there," Manning said.
Dec. 1st is Manning's next "checkpoint" - that's three months from his surgery and doctors will evaluate his progress "from a strength standpoint at that time, from a conditioning standpoint and so I just can't give a prediction of where I'm gonna be. I don't think anybody can. As I've said all along, this injury is one that's a little bit unpredictable."
Active roster
There have also been questions as to why the Colts are keeping Manning on the active roster. Bill Polian said he wants the star QB to "feel like, 'Hey, I'm back, I can do the things that are necessary to say I can play like I want to.' The bottom line is he needs to feel good about being back and doing the things he wants to do."
On Thursday, Manning said, "The thing about it is, it's not that I am on the active roster; if I were in a position, if I were cleared to practice and if I were at a strength level, conditioning level checkpiont that I were cleared, it's the greatest venue to go out and see where you are on the practice file as opposed to having to grab a receiver off to the side and go out before walk-through or before practice. If I was cleared and able to do that it would be nice to be able to do that - to go out and participate in a team practice; everything is right there with you even though you probably couldn't do everything. So that's the hope and the wish," he said.
He added, "The roster squad is their decision....there really is no set plan because it's still about kind of where I will be when that point arrives."
"That's my job and I miss not being able to do my job."
Eyewitness Sports anchor Rich Nye asked Peyton if he still had aspirations to play a game this year. The Colts have been 0-8 without him.
"Well, sure, Rich. I miss playing. I really do. If I were to get cleared to play and felt good enough to play, the doctor said it was okay, I would absolutely love to because that's kind of how I'm wired. That's my job and I miss not being able to do my job. Once again, it's another prediction type of question. I just can't really give you that answer as to where I am. In December I can probably give you a more realistic answer - with four games left."
"Sure, would I like to? Absolutely, whether it's one game, two games, a couple of plays. I miss playing. When you've done something all your career and most of your sports life and you've always played and the doctor says you can go play again, sure, I'd like to do that. But it's really hard to predict what the situation will be come December."
Playoffs
When Eyewitness Sports pointed out that the Colts were probably not going to the playoffs, Peyton responded, "Is it mathmatically official yet?"
"I know a lot of people like to provide their thoughts and they say, 'Well, he'd be crazy to do that.' This is all new to me and this is my first time dealing with it. All I know is I like playing. I enjoy being out there. I miss being out there in the huddle. I'm on the sideline looking at the huddle even though I'm probably just 25 yards away from the huddle, it feels like a million miles away. All of the sudden to have a chance to be back out there, sure, I'd love to do it."
Peyton said it's been a rough ride for the team this season.
"We're all disappointed and want things to change. This is another opportunity. I hope we can get something positive going and change the momentum," he said.
Draft pick
On the various stories based on speculation about a possible trade, or the Colts picking up Andrew Luck, Peyton said, "that's a lot of speculation and I don't think it's really fair to the players that are playing to speculate what draft choice the Colts will have. We might win eight in a row on Sunday and I certainly hope that we do. It's hard for me to speculate on things like that when I'm not playing. Jeff Saturday and Reggie Wayne, these guys are out there fighting for their lives trying to win every game. We've never talked about what draft pick we were gonna have before during the past 13 years so I don't think it's fair to do now."
"Like I said before, you all just gotta have a little more patience. You're a very impatient group," said Peyton, smiling as he talked to reporters. "You all wanna know what's gonna happen in February with the contract, what's gonna happen in April with the draft. All I can say is those times will arrive in February and in April. Until then, I understand it's fair to ask those questions. But I think we'll address them when the time comes."
