Irsay: Manning Will Be Out for "Awhile"

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="586" caption="Manning's offense being led by Kerry Collins... yeesh."]Manning, Collins[/caption] After his tweet last night confirming that Peyton Manning did not have surgery, Jim Irsay was back at it again this morning:

NFL Season opens 2nite!We had a good practice yesterday and r guys r fired up 4 the season.#18's out for awhile,but compete,we will/BELIEVE

I'm glad to see Jim Irsay trying to keep people motivated for the season, but I have mixed feelings about the Manning update. First, "awhile" certainly gives the impression that Peyton's season is NOT over. The rumors flooding the Twitterverse yesterday were greatly exaggerated, and all in all, just rumors. I tweeted last night that I didn't want to give them any more attention, and I don't, other than to say they were JUST RUMORS. Don't believe anything about Manning's injury until it is confirmed by multiple credible sources. (Hint: credible sources won't know about it until the team wants them to know about it) So, in a sense, it's good news that Manning, at this point, is probably looking at coming back at some point in the season. On the flip side, this tweet isn't good news for optimists (like myself) who thought Manning could be back in a week or two. I was really hoping that Manning's recovery would pick up and he could take over fairly quickly. That dream is likely all but shut down, but there's no use over analyzing/speculating on one tweet. Keep the heads up Colts' fans. Go Colts!