Peyton Manning surgery succeeding; when will Colts QB play again?

Peyton Manning’s surgery appears to have been a success, according to reports out Thursday. The Indianapolis Colts quarterback has been off the gridiron since surgery on his neck in September, leaving him sidelined for the first time in his 14-year NFL career.

“Peyton will now be allowed to increase the intensity and breadth of his workouts as tolerated. There remains every indication that his recovery will continue,” surgeon Robert Watkins said in a statement.

That’s great news for Manning, whose chances of returning to the field had seemed even dimmer when news first broke that he would be sitting out the season. Manning left the field in the fall after complaining of weakness in his arm and pain in his lower back during practice, months after an earlier surgery for a herniated disc in late May. Fans and pundits had wondered if such a procedure could affect Manning’s career long-term.

But, as explained earlier by Dr. Neel Anand, an orthopedic surgeon at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, “This is not a career-ending surgery or a condition. He should be fine to get back next season.”

There’s no timetable on when Manning will return, however -- there’s no way to predict how long it will take to heal.

In the meantime, here’s an explanation of the surgery Manning had, called a single-level anterior fusion.

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