Star quarterback Peyton Manning will miss the start of
the Indianapolis Colts' training camp after undergoing minor knee
surgery an infected knee bursa.
Manning had been suffering with the problem since
February but the 32-year-old began suffering more pain recently and
the decision was taken for him to go under the knife to cure the problem.
"The procedure was routine. The Colts' medical
staff expects a full and complete return to action," said Colts
president Bill Polian.
Manning misses the start of the Colts' training camp
on July 25 as Colts begin preparations for a new NFL season.
A six-time selection for the Pro Bowl, Manning has
started every one of his 160 career games - a record which will be
the longest for an active player in the league unless Brett Favre returns.
The Colts are confident Manning will be fully fit for
the start of the new season, but will be looking closely at
fifth-season back-up Jim Sorgi just in case
Q: What is an infected knee bursa?
A: On the front of your
kneecap, just up underneath the skin, is a small sac called the
prepatella bursa. A bursa is a sac made of thin, slippery tissue and
is located in multiple places in the body wherever skin, muscles or
tendons need to slide over bone, such as the back of your elbow.
The bursa is lubricated with a small amount of fluid
inside that helps reduce friction from the sliding parts. The
prepatella bursa allows the kneecap to slide freely underneath the
skin as you bend and straighten your knee.
When the prepatella bursa is subject to excessive
friction, the tissue becomes inflamed and swells, creating a swollen
lump on the front of the knee typically about the size of a golf
ball, although it can be larger. This is commonly seen in people who
work on their knees such as plumbers or carpet layers.
However, when the bursa is subject to direct trauma,
such as landing hard on the knee - like being driven to the ground in
a sack - the tissue inside the prepatella bursa can suddenly begin to
bleed and the bursa will swell up very large, very fast, nearly the
size of a grape fruit in some cases. Depending on the size of the
bursal swelling and how long it has been present, one consider
draining the bursa to remove the swelling or blood that has collected.
Now there is a risk of an infection developing within
the bursa due to the collection of blood present. It is usually
explained to patients that this pool of blood is full of nutrients
and, if any bacteria happens to "set up shop" here, this is
a great site for bacteria to multiply and divide, creating an
infection. Manning has been through this before.
While Manning attended the University of Tennessee;
during his junior year Manning had a similar problem with his knee.
He had been bothered the last few games of the season with a painful
and swollen bursa and it was considered to have it drained, but was
counseled by the head team physician Dr. William Youmans against it.
Youmans felt it would resolve on its own with time and
that there was the possibility of it getting infected, which you
certainly wouldn't want to do to your star quarterback. So it was
left alone.
Manning then traveled to New York to appear on David
Letterman and then go to the Heisman Trophy ceremony. While there he
saw a local surgeon, who drained it and then, sure enough, it got
infected. He came back to Knoxville with his knee swollen up, red and
painful to bend. This was about a week before the Citrus Bowl; the
Volunteers were slated to play Northwestern. Manning was admitted for
IV antibiotics, his infection cleared and the Vols won their bowl game.
Manning developed another infection and underwent
surgery this week to remove the bursa and clean out the infection.
Because the bursa sits just up underneath the skin, the surgery did
not have to enter his knee joint and it is expected Manning will make
a quick recovery. It is fully expected that he will return to play at
the start of the regular season but would likely see limited duty
during the preseason.
Manning has only missed a single play from injury or
illness during his entire pro career with the Colts, including
playing with a broken jaw and his mouth wired shut.
UPDATE
July 17, 2008
Whether Peyton Manning steps on the field for any of
the Indianapolis Colts' five preseason games is open for debate, but
the team is confident its eight-time Pro Bowl quarterback will be
ready when it matters most -- the Sept. 7 regular-season opener in
Lucas Oil Stadium against the Chicago Bears.
"That's our expectation," team
president Bill Polian said Tuesday afternoon.
The procedure was performed in Indianapolis by Dr. Tom
Klootwyk, one of the Colts' orthopedic surgeons.
"Everything went well and the doctors are very
confident that everything will go well," Polian said.
The initial prognosis is for Manning to miss between
four and six weeks. The Colts report to Terre Haute on July 24 for
the start of training camp.
Dungy Expects Peyton & Marvin Back Sooner Than Expected
July 18, 2008
On the "Waddle and Silvy Show" on ESPN Radio
in Chicago, Coach Tony Dungy had a few comments that can make a Colts
fan day.
"Marvin's doing great and should be ready to go
when training camp opens," said coach Dungy, "He was
running pretty well at our offseason workouts and really smiling and
feeling good I think for the first time in a while."
But wait! There's more.
"Peyton's knee surgery was really a minor
procedure. We kind of toyed with the idea of trying to make it
through the whole season, and I think he probably could have.
But timing is going to be good for us. Jim Sorgi will get a lot
of work at the first part of training camp, and then I think Peyton
will be ready by midway through then we will roll like we always have."
Dungy goes onto say that even if Peyton would miss 5
weeks, he would still have 3 weeks of preseason to get ready.
The dried-out Marvin shooting incident was brought up, and Dungy
reiterated that Marvin is not a suspect, and the Philly police has
confirmed that with the organization.
Peyton Manning misses
Colts Camp on doctors orders after
knee surgery
July 24, 2008
This was not the way Peyton Manning had envisioned his
11th training camp with the Indianapolis Colts unfolding.
While his teammates spent Thursday unloading duffel
bags, foam bed cushions and flat screens for their personal computers
to make their dorm rooms at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology as
comfortable as possible, the face of the organization was resting -
his left knee wrapped and elevated - at his Indianapolis residence.
Life went on. Camp went on, even without the team's
most indispensable and indestructible player. Manning has started 160
consecutive regular-season games - the longest streak by an active
quarterback - and has missed only one play in a regular-season game
because of injury.
"I've never missed a practice or a meeting or an
organized team activity in my whole career,'' Manning said in his
first interview since the surgery, "and I'm certainly
disappointed I can't be there with all the guys on the first day of
training camp.
"But as the cliche goes: following doctor's
orders. I'm in a positive frame of mind and I hope to be up there as
soon as the doctors release me.''
The Colts expect the post-surgery recovery time to
range from four to six weeks.
Pressed on when he might make the drive across I-70 to
Rose-Hulman, Manning paused briefly.
"It could be as soon as (today), it could be
sometime next week,'' he said. "I've really tried to be patient
and positive.''
A team doctor visits Manning daily to monitor the
knee, which still is experiencing swelling. The knee is compressed,
immobilized and elevated as much as possible. Manning, who generally
uses crutches to navigate around his house, had an IV line inserted
in his left arm so antibiotics can be administered, and a tube in his
left knee to aid in occasional draining.
Once the swelling is under control and the doctor is
convinced there is no risk of further infection, Manning should be
allowed to report to camp. But even then he'll be ordered to take it
easy for an undetermined time.
The Colts remain confident Manning will return in time
to get enough work during the preseason to be ready for the Sept. 7
regular-season opener against the Chicago Bears in Lucas Oil Stadium.
Team president Bill Polian reiterated that Manning's
situation was "a short-term thing. It's not long term."
Backup quarterback Jim Sorgi, who will run the No. 1
offense while Manning mends, smiled when he considered the
possibility of Manning not being ready for the Bears.
"C'mon, we all know Peyton,'' Sorgi said. "The
first game in the new stadium, I mean
. . . in my mind he's going to be there.''
Manning, though, made it clear he will need some level
of work on the practice field before stepping on the field for the
regular season. The Colts' passing game relies on timing, and that is
honed on the practice field.
"To think you can just parachute in there on
Sunday into the new stadium on the day of the Bears game and think
you're ready to go is ridiculous,'' Manning said. "Obviously I'm
going to need some time. I'm going to want some time.''
Manning's preseason schedule became disrupted when he
woke up in New Orleans on July 14, the day after his family's passing
academy in Louisiana concluded. He had been receiving treatment for
several months to deal with swelling in his left knee, but that
morning he experienced "severe pain'' in the joint. Even walking
was difficult.
He immediately returned to Indianapolis and underwent surgery.
"It really happened pretty fast. I really didn't
see it coming,'' Manning said. "There's never a good time to
have surgery, but hopefully ..... we caught it early enough.''
And if he is not ready to go by Sept. 7?
"I can play quarterback if needed," volunteered
wide receiver Reggie Wayne.
Peyton Manning Healing Nicely
The Tribune Star reports
three days into training camp, Indianapolis Colts QB Peyton Manning
continues to recover from surgery to remove an infected bursa sac in
his left knee. While he wouldn't divulge exactly where Manning is
convalescing, Colts HC Tony Dungy said Monday that the two-time
league MVP appears to be healing nicely. "He is doing fine.
We're still trying to keep him immobile. That's the biggest fight. I
think the farther away from camp we can keep him, the better chance
we have of keeping him immobilized," Dungy said. "I'm
not at liberty to say where he is at this point, but he is immobile.
I can tell you that," he joked. The Colts' coach laughed off
radio reports that Manning had been seen slipping into training camp
on Monday afternoon.
Around 2008 Training Camp, there has been no sightings
of the Colts' most-high profile player.
Peyton Manning's not throwing passes. And he's
not running drills.
But Colts Head Coach Tony Dungy said fans and
observers shouldn't be fooled.
Manning has been activated
from the PUP list Tuesday
More than a month after having
knee surgery and enduring weeks of rampant speculation about whether
the injury was worse than first feared, two-time league MVP Peyton
Manning finally provided his doubters with one emphatic answer
Tuesday: He's back, right on schedule.
But activating Manning doesn't
necessarily mean he will start the season opener, Sept. 7 against Chicago.
"I'm not really doing
predictions at this point," Manning said. "I hope to
be ready, and I certainly don't want to create this dramatic
announcement. I think I will do some parts of practice today and
tomorrow and I may even dress for (Thursday's) game though I won't
play. We'll do a short practice Monday, and then, hopefully, I'll be
full go Wednesday."
But team now is without Saturday
after knee injury
Jeff Saturday left Sunday night's
preseason loss to Buffalo with an injury to his right knee. He said
after the game he might have damaged his medial collateral ligament,
but results of a magnetic resonance imaging test were not available Monday.
Seventh-round pick Jamey
Richard might be used as the starter if Saturday can't play.
The good news is Saturday is not
done for 2008, but this is yet another ANNOYING injury for the Colts.
Fortunately, the Colts have a strong stable of good centers
Complicating matters is the status
of Ryan Lilja and Mike Pollak. Lilja, the starting left guard, has
yet to practice after undergoing offseason knee surgery. Pollak, the
team's second-round draft pick, missed the Bills game after injuring
his right knee in practice last week.
If Saturday, Lilja and Pollak are
at least temporarily out of the mix, the line might consist of Tony
Ugoh at left tackle, Charlie Johnson at left guard, Justice at
center, Dan Federkeil at right guard and Ryan Diem at right tackle.
Manning
wanted to keep 2nd surgery from opponents
Peyton Manning kept quiet about his second knee
surgery for one reason: He thought it would give opponents an
advantage. The two-time league MVP answered questions about the
surgery for the first time publicly Wednesday, two days after coach
Tony Dungy confirmed Manning needed two surgeries to clear the bursa
sac infection in his left knee.
"The reason I just didn't really confirm or deny
it the first time was I just didn't really want the Bears to know
they were playing against a guy that was four weeks off of
surgery," he said. "I know if I was playing against a
corner that was four weeks off of surgery, I would definitely test
out how good that surgery was in a game. So I just didn't think it
was fair to reveal that information."
Manning continues to insist it is irrelevant now that
he has produced his two best games of the season. A week ago, he
helped orchestrate a remarkable comeback at Houston, rallying from 17
points down with less than 5 minutes to go, and then threw for three
touchdowns in Sunday's 31-3 victory over Baltimore.
The reward for beating the Ravens was Manning's first
AFC player of the week award since Dec. 2, 2007.
But for weeks, Manning declined to answer persistent
rumors about a second surgery. Then last Friday, during a TV
production meeting, Manning confirmed it.
On Monday, for the first time the Colts also
acknowledged Manning had undergone a second surgical procedure.
Because Manning usually speaks to reporters on Wednesdays and after
games, he was not available for interviews.
The questions have not dissipated.
Dungy was asked Wednesday to explain why the team did
not provide details earlier.
"I don't know, that's something you'd probably
have to ask organization," he said.
That question-and-answer prompted Craig Kelley, Colts
vice president of public relations, to say the team never denied it.
Clearly, though, the injury has been big news since
the Colts announced July 14 that Manning needed surgery.
The surgery was the second biggest story during
training camp, exceeded only by Brett Favre's summer soap opera in
Green Bay. Even Manning, who has never missed an NFL start and has
only missed one career play because of injury, acknowledges the Favre
saga took some of the spotlight off his recovery.
But when Favre was traded to the Jets, Manning's
absence moved to center stage.
He didn't return until Aug. 26, didn't play in his
first game until the regular-season opener against Chicago, and spent
the first month of the season trying to get that precision timing
down with his receivers.
Sunday was the first time Manning looked like himself,
hitting receivers in stride and hooking up on deep balls.
"You have to disclose most things, but I do think
when it comes to protecting a player and not giving the opponent any
unfair advantage besides what you're required to reveal, that was the
whole reason for that," Manning said. "That was what I
wanted to do."
Manning, the perfectionist, still isn't satisfied.
Despite the dramatic improvement Indy (3-2) showed
against the league's top defense, Manning believes the Colts can
improve in a few areas. They had 11 penalties, one of which cost
Manning a fourth touchdown pass and his first 300-yard game of the
season, and they still ran for only 76 yards.
Plus, Manning continues to recover from the operations
that may have been blamed for his uncharacteristic slow start. Others
don't see it quite the same way.
"I think he's responded very well," Green
Bay coach Mike McCarthy said. "I think that was very evident in
the Baltimore game. You see the comfort and timing, and the timing is
coming back."
As for Manning, he wants to be finished talking about
the knee.
"I was just trying to not give them any type of
advantage, whether they change their blitzes or what not,"
Manning said. "I didn't want to keep it from anybody, and it
didn't necessarily have to be a secret. That was just the whole
reasoning for it."
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