Back in May, Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay told reporters that QB Peyton Manning's neck injury, which required surgery on May 23, would be just an six-to-eight week recovery process suggesting he would be ready for the Colts 2011 training camp.
Apparently, that's not the case. When the Colts camp is scheduled to start on July 31, it will be about 10 weeks since Manning's surgery and, according to Bob Kravitz of the Indianapolis Star, Manning won't be ready for the start of camp.
A source familiar with Manning's health situation said Tuesday that Manning will not be able to participate at the outset, and at this point, there's no way of knowing how much time he might miss.
It could be a week. It could be a couple of weeks. Or even most, or all, of training camp.
Manning is the type of guy who could miss all of camp, return in September, and still go on to play a Pro Bowl-caliber season but that's obviously not the scenario the Colts want to see.
We likely won't get a true sense of the timetable on Manning's return until the Colts medical staff can evaluate him. Because of the lockout, they don't have a good idea of where he stands.
As Kravitz said, it could be one missed day, a week or even all of camp. We just don't know yet.
Check out Stampede Blue where they were all over the Manning and training camp story earlier this month.