Peyton Manning suffers a slowdown in his rehabilitation process

Indianapolis Colts confirm that their starting quarterback’s recovery is unpredictable, after he experienced soreness again on his back product of the neck surgery he went through on March 2010.

For the first time in his career Peyton Manning could lose a season openning game, as he is not fully recovered from the neck surgery he had on March 2010. Medical reports put in doubt his participation against the Houston Texas on September 11, as he is accusing soreness in that area, which has led the doctors to keep him from practicing.

With Mannings’s diagnosis still on progress the end date of his rehabilitation becomes unpredictable. The Colts medical team is conducting more tests as well as consulting the specialists involved in the quarterback’s disk-related issue from the outset. Although they first associated the soreness experienced by the 35-year-old player in his neck to part of the rehabilitation process, having noticed a slowdown in it has driven the doctors to re-evaluate his case.

It wasn’t a secret that Manning could lose the season opener against Houston, after missing the entire preseason, something that had only happened in 2008 while he recovered from knee surgery, which unlike this time didn’t keep him from playing the full regular season. What is surprising is the rumor about him having to go through a second neck surgery, as a local radio station informed through its Twitter account.

The Colts don’t want to feed the rumors, and have decided to avoid speculations, meaning that they won’t pronounce about the issue until they have concrete medical facts about their QB. What is not a rumor is that the Colts had brought vetera
Kerry Collins out of retirement on August to cover for Manning in case he wasn’t ready for the season kick off, as team owner Jim Irsay saw it coming.

Upset about the chance of losing his first season opener game since his debut in 1998, the QB blames the lockout for his lingering injury as it didn’t allow him to work with his man of trust, Colts therapist Erin Barrill, for almost five months. Erin was responsible for Manning’s neck and knee surgery rehabilitation process in the past, which built a strong bond between them.

Manning's 227 consecutive games started streak –second highest in history- began in 1998, and unfortunately for him is closer to reach its end than to tie Brett Favre’s 321-game playing streak, who holds the all-time NFL record.

The 11-time Pro Bowl selection has led the Colts to nine consecutive playoff berths from 2002 to 2010, becoming the first QB in the league to do so, record that could also be jeopardized if a report from CBSSports.com journalist Mike Freeman about Manning missing between four to five weeks is accurate.

Without Manning the Colts went 1-3 in the preseason, losing 33-10 to the St. Louis Rams, 16-3 to the Washington Redskins, and 24-21 to the Green Bay Packers. Their only victory came until game 4 against the Cincinnati Bengals 17-13. Hopefully it will serve them as a boost to affront the first game of the regular season without their starting QB.