INDIANAPOLIS — Bill Polian is already looking for the next Peyton Manning.
The Indianapolis Colts vice chairman told radio listeners Monday night that while the team expects Manning to return from neck surgery this season or next and to play at least several more years in Indianapolis, he is already contemplating who could be the heir to Manning.
“Peyton’s at the age now where he recognizes and we recognize that his career is in the homestretch,” Polian said. “While we fully expect he’ll be back and we fully expect he’ll be with us next year, it is time that we give the quarterback position some serious consideration. We do that every year. The question is what pick do you use on a quarterback and how do you structure the contract and that sort of thing.”
Manning is expected to miss at least two months and possibly the entire season after having surgery Thursday to fuse two bones in his neck. It’s the third surgery he has had on his neck in the past 19 months, but the only injury that has kept the four-time league MVP from starting an NFL game.
The latest surgery came 3 1/2 months after a less invasive procedure was supposed to fix a nerve problem that affected Manning’s arm. Team officials thought Manning would return in six to eight weeks, a timetable that would have put him back on the practice field at the start of training camp.
But the recovery took far longer than expected, and Manning opened camp on the physically unable to perform list. He was activated Aug. 29. Then, after less than a week of practice, doctors pulled him off the field because of pain in his back.
That prompted the third surgery, which the Colts are hoping will clear up the problem. Projections for Manning’s return range from two to six months, though Polian said Monday that Manning, 35, won’t practice again until the doctors clear him, a team-wide policy.
“There is a recovery period and when that takes place, hopefully, it will go according to plan and it will be complete,” Polian said. “We are still left with the question about when the nerve in the arm, which controls the triceps muscle, will regenerate.
“The fact is he will not be allowed back onto the field until the doctors say he’s 100 percent. His long-term health is our No. 1 priority.”
A team spokesman confirmed Polian was in North Carolina over the weekend to watch Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck lead the Cardinal to a 44-14 victory over Duke.
