Kerry Collins' Injury Shouldn't Force Manning to Return Early from Injury

Kerry Collins' concussion injury and Peyton Manning's neck injury -- you would think that by just the sheer nature and extent of each injury, Manning's would force management to be more cautious.

You thought wrong.

Jim Irsay, owner and CEO of the Indianapolis Colts, announced on Twitter Tuesday that Collins has been placed on the injured reserve. On the flipside, Vice Chairman Bill Polian said, according to Sports Illustrated's Peter King via Twitter, that Manning could still practice or play before this season is over. Manning has also been walking on a treadmill and could start jogging this week.

Even if Manning does make a return, it may be too little too late for the Colts, who are off to a 0-7 start. And that's not just because of the offense, which is 27th in passing yards and 25th in rushing yards. The defense, with the loss of veteran linebacker Gary Brackett, has made both the pass and run-stopping abilities weak at best.

The Colts didn't replace Collins with a different quarterback, apparently feeling that Curtis Painter and Dan Orlovsky are alright under center, and instead, they moved offensive linemen Michael Toudouze and Jamey Richard to the squad's active roster. Collins, who was supposed to lend his experience to at least be a crutch for a Manning-less Colts team, only threw for 481 yards and two touchdowns and in 3 games.

Painter, who replaced Collins as quarterback at the end of September, made strides up until the New Orleans Saints' 62-7 rout last Sunday after sitting on the bench in Manning shadow for three years. He has 873 passing yards and five touchdowns in five games this season.

The Colts ought to ride Painter out since he carries the momentum with him. Although, changing quarterbacks probably wouldn't matter anyway, at least they can be stable at the quarterback position. And, rushing Manning to play just to secure a win or two is pointless.

But, as far as stability goes, there really hasn't been any much of it all season for Indy. Coincidentally, Polian also said that he and Manning have talked about plans for next season and beyond, in essence, trying to stabilize the instability. And you know what that possibly means.

Andrew Luck could be on the horizon.

What better way to re-stabilize an organization that had so many winning seasons before this one by drafting one of college football's most acclaimed quarterbacks and having a future Hall of Famer, possibly the greatest (regular season) quarterback to ever play the game, pass the torch.

The Colts may not want to suck for Luck. But when you think about it at this point in the season (and you can bet the Colts have), the benefits outweigh the costs.