INDIANAPOLIS — Peyton Manning could be back on the active roster in the next two weeks. If not, the Colts will have to play the first six games without the four-time MVP.
League rules require players on the physically unable to perform list to be activated by the team’s final cutdown, Sept. 3, or to sit out an additional six weeks.
Conventional wisdom suggests Manning will be activated soon, something coach Jim Caldwell acknowledged Friday night after a 24-21 loss to Green Bay.
“I would say that it’s certainly a realistic possibility here and it could happen shortly,” Caldwell said.
That’s the closest Caldwell has come to say when Manning might return.
Indy’s franchise quarterback has been on PUP since practice began Aug. 1, and Caldwell has repeatedly said Manning will practice only after the doctors clear him.
Last Saturday, Manning told reporters he would not play in the final two preseason games and that he needed the next two weeks to get healthy.
Foster’s outlook positive
HOUSTON — Texans coach Gary Kubiak is optimistic Arian Foster will be ready for the regular-season opener after the running back aggravated a hamstring injury in Saturday’s preseason victory over San Francisco.
Foster, the NFL’s leading rusher in 2010, left the field in the first quarter of Houston’s 30-7 victory, favoring the left hamstring that he strained in one of the first workouts of training camp.
Kubiak also said All-Pro linebacker DeMeco Ryans will return to practice Monday. Ryans did not travel to San Francisco because of an elbow injury.
Pryor stumbles out of the gate
NAPA, CALIF. — On his second play of his first NFL practice with the Oakland Raiders, Terrelle Pryor fumbled the snap and had to fall on the ball.
He had one more fumbled snap and a few errant passes in his 16 plays during team sessions, looking more like someone who hadn’t played football since January than a future franchise quarterback. That’s all to be expected considering he just jumped right in on his first day with the Raiders, while most everyone else has had more than four weeks of training camp.
Around the league
• PACKERS: Green Bay released tight end Spencer Havner, wide receiver Brett Swain and offensive tackle Theo Sherman. Havner played in 21 games with one start during his three seasons with Green Bay. His best season was in 2009, when he caught seven passes for 112 yards and four touchdowns. After two seasons with the Packers, Havner began last season with Detroit but returned to Green Bay after he was cut.
• BROWNS: Back at practice for the first time, Cleveland receiver Mohamed Massaquoi still is not exactly certain how he got an injury that has kept him out of all contact drills.
Massaquoi finally put on a helmet, pads, and caught passes during a non-contact drill Sunday. It was his first football-related action since coming to camp with his left foot in a cast and clouded by mystery.
• BILLS: Kyle Williams’ career season paid off when Buffalo on Friday gave the defensive lineman a six-year contract extension potentially worth $39 million. Williams will become one of the NFL’s top-paid defensive lineman, as the extension is similar to the five-year, $40 million deal New England Patriots defensive tackle Vince Wilfork reached in March 2010.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.