Peyton Manning’s injury concerns began to pop up across our news feeds following the Broncos’ loss to the Indianapolis Colts back in early November, but he’s been dealing with his plantar fasciitis since well before then.
In an interview with WDSU-TV in New Orleans, his father, Archie Manning, said the injury has been bothering Manning since the offseason.
“He’s really had this foot problem that’s been going on for five or six months,” Archie said on Thursday.
And if that’s the case, then that means that, while the plantar fascia tear occurred against the Chiefs on November 15, Manning’s been dealing with plantar fasciitis since July or August.
Now, there’s two ways to take this: (1) The injury is more serious than we’ve thought, and any hopes of Manning regaining his play is lost, or (2) these last four, going on five, weeks are exactly what Manning needed to get himself healthy and ready to play.
Until proven otherwise, I’m going with option two.
If Manning’s plantar fasciitis really did begin to act up during training camp, then he went a good three or four months without ever giving himself the rest he needed, and it showed. I don’t need to rehash how un-Manning-like No. 18 has looked all season, but it would make a lot of sense that he was dealing with a, at least partially, debilitating injury.
Now, I’m not going to let this injury be used as a carte-blanche excuse; as our own James Merilatt detailed earlier in the season, the majority of Manning’s interceptions and mistakes were mental, not physical. Still, there is something to be said about the idea of compensating through injury. If Manning has been in serious pain for months now, and Archie’s comments seem to insinuate that he has, then maybe he’s been playing the game, mentally, different, too.
I can’t say for sure — I don’t think anybody truly can — but what I do know is that the one time Manning did get some time to rest his foot during the Broncos’ bye week, he came back and had one of his best performances of the last two years against Green Bay. What’s he going to look like after five weeks of rest?
So, with all this injury drama surrounding Peyton Manning, if you’re looking for a silver lining, here it is: If Manning truly has been injured since before Week 1, then it gives us a valid explanation for his poor play this season, and if these last five weeks of rest have helped Manning recover at all, then there’s reason to believe he’s capable of coming back and playing at a higher level than we’ve seen all year.
The next challenge, though, will be keeping him healthy.