QB-PEYTON MANNING (on if he is looking forward to returning to practice) * *
"I am looking forward to getting back out there. It's been a while. I've been doing some things on my own, but it's not quite the same because you are out there with the team and doing some different drills in practice, so I do look forward to getting back out there (Tuesday)."
QB-PEYTON MANNING (on if he feels he is 100 percent)
"I don't really know. It's probably not for me to answer what percent I am. Some of the trainers are still evaluating me and giving their opinions, but we are, at this point, where I can get back out there and do some of the things involved in practice. This day's finally here and I just need to keep, hopefully, progressing as time goes forward. Like I said all along, the goal is to be ready for the season opener and I certainly hope to be and, at this point, I expect to be."
QB-PEYTON MANNING (on if it will be hard for him to pace himself as he returns)
"I can't really answer that. All of these questions are before I get back out there. Like I said, I am anxious to get back out there and hopefully we can keep progressing and don't have any steps in the wrong direction."
QB-PEYTON MANNING (on if starting Sept. 7 is more realistic now)
"Once again, I'm not really doing the predictions at this point. Like I said, I hope to be ready and that is certainly the plan. I certainly didn't want to create this dramatic announcement one way or the other. Every day, you hope you're making progress and you wake up the next morning hoping you still feel good. So far, that's what we've been dealing with so, obviously, you hope that still is the case throughout this week and going into next week. There's some parts of the practice this week, (Tuesday), some (Wednesday), I may even dress for the game on Thursday – I don't think I'll be playing at this point – and then have the weekend. The idea would be to try to be practicing a short practice Monday and then be full go on Wednesday."
QB-PEYTON MANNING (on what he has observed about the team and Lucas Oil Stadium from the sideline)
"I've only been with the team the one time on the sideline. Obviously, it wasn't real pretty on Sunday night. The stadium is very nice, though, and I look forward to playing in it this year."
QB-PEYTON MANNING (on if he is confident that a week and a half is enough time to be ready for the season)
"Like I said, I've been doing some things on my own. It's not like (Tuesday) is the first day I'll be out there throwing or doing quarterback things. It's the first time I'll be out there with more than one receiver. (WR) Roy Hall and I have been doing some things together – he's also been injured – so it'll be good to get out there with the rest of the team. That's what we have to deal with, but I've certainly been doing things on my own; studying, meeting with the coaches, doing a lot of the walkthroughs, which media is not allowed to be at, so I've been trying to do whatever I've been able to do at the same time, making my top priority doing my rehab. I feel I've done the things that, time-wise, I've been allowed to do up until this point and I still have to make that the top priority this week and even next week. My rehab will not stop once the season starts. It's still something I'll be having to continue to try to progress and treat throughout the season, probably, but hopefully we'll make enough progress that it gets better each week."
QB-PEYTON MANNING (on how concerned he is about the injury to C-Jeff Saturday)
"My prayers are with Jeff and you have your fingers crossed. It's pretty well documented how I feel about him and, I think, how the team feels about him and how important he is to the team and to this offense. We're certainly hoping for good news. Jeff's one of the old-school players. He's one of the tough guys on this team and in this league. I know he's going to want to do whatever he can to be out there playing, but obviously we'll have to see what the resu
