Published: August 20, 2008 11:10 pm            

Colts' Manning takes part in offensive walkthrough

INDIANAPOLIS — Peyton Manning returned to the practice field Wednesday.

Well, sort of.

The Indianapolis Colts’ quarterback, who continues to recover from a July 14 surgical procedure to remove an infected bursa sac in his left knee, worked with the team’s first-team offense during a morning walkthrough session.

When it came time for full-speed practice work, however, primary back-up Jim Sorgi was back at the controls. Sorgi will start Sunday night’s nationally televised [NFL Network, 8 p.m.] preseason home opener with the Buffalo Bills and play for about 21⁄2 quarters before giving way to Jared Lorenzen and Quinn Gray.

“He [Manning] actually took all the walkthrough reps [Wednesday]. He’s got a routine that he’s in and pretty much that’s going to be it,” Indianapolis coach Tony Dungy said Wednesday. “He’s taking the walkthrough stuff. Jim’s taking the regular part of practice. But he’s here and involved and doing fine.”

• • •

• Playing time coming soon? — There’s still no word when, or if, Manning, strong safety Bob Sanders and defensive end Dwight Freeney will play in one of Indianapolis’ two remaining preseason games. After Sunday night’s meeting with Buffalo, the Colts will close out the exhibition season four days later with a home game against the Cincinnati Bengals on Aug. 28.

“Right now, it looks like Bob’s on schedule to play a little bit this week, but we’ll see how the week goes,” Dungy said. “We may hold him and have some guys that get their work on the following Thursday [against Cincinnati]. We’ll kind of see how that goes. [The schedule] is something that is weighing into our plans.”

Currently, there is no firm timetable as for when Manning will begin to do more work in practice or when he might be able to play in an actual game — preseason or regular season.

“Not really. Just taking it as it comes. And right now, this week, he’s doing the walkthrough stuff. We’ll see what happens from there,” the Colts’ coach said, adding that it’s been tough trying to keep the Indianapolis quarterback away from the field.

“Keeping him held down and keeping him on the doctor’s schedule,” Dungy said. “But he’s doing a great job with that. He has been more patient with this than maybe a lot of things. He’s doing fine.”

• Sanders, Freeney raring to go — The two highest-profile defensive players on the Colts’ roster — Sanders [shoulder] and Freeney [foot] — are back on the active roster after spending the bulk of training camp on the team’s physically unable to perform list.

They both practiced Tuesday when Indianapolis had its initial workout at Lucas Oil Stadium and the pair were able to take part in Wednesday’s full practice session.

“It’s exciting, especially getting back on the field,” Sanders said earlier this week. “I feel great about it. It feels great to get back around my teammates, go through a practice and not be standing on the sidelines running and wishing I was out there. So it definitely feels great to be back out there.”

Sitting out training camp due to an injury rehab has become somewhat of a normal routine for the 2007 NFL Defensive Player of the Year. But after undergoing surgery to repair an old shoulder injury, it’s a rut that he’d like to get out of next year.

“I understand that when you have an injury, you’ve got to make sure that you get back. You can’t go out there 80 percent, 90 percent. You’ve got to be 100 percent and ready to go,” he said. “With that, it makes me want to work even harder to get back. To show everyone that even though I had an injury, even though I was out, even though I missed some time, I can get back and do my job as well or even better than the way I’ve been playing.

“The injuries, just for me, makes me be on my job even more. It makes me pay more detail on what I’m doing. And mentally being fresh and being prepared since I’m not getting those reps on the field, that mentally I’m sharp and that I’m on it when it’s time to go play.”

Freeney, who suffered a season-ending LisFranc injury at San Diego on Nov. 11, feels pretty much the same way.

“I feel good. I felt almost like a rookie again. It’s been so long [without practicing]. It’s actually the longest I’ve been without going on the field in pads since I don’t even know when. Maybe high school,” he said. “I felt good. I was excited to be back, to be back with the guys.

“The move that I got hurt on was a spin move [against the Chargers]. The first move I did [in Wednesday’s practice] was a spin move. So it was to just get it out of the way. And it felt good.”

He’d like to play Sunday night against the Bills, but admits that decision rests with Dungy and the athletic training staff.

“I don’t know the plan, if Tony’s going to hold me back or do what,” Freeney said. “I’ll be ready for whatever the management, whatever their plan is for me.”

• Slowing down young playmakers — A pair of second-year defensive players — strong-side linebacker Clint Session and safety Brannon Condren — have caught the eye of the Colts’ coaching staff. But getting both to settle in and play the defense as designed continues to be a battle at times.

Session’s overeagerness to make a play in last week’s preseason win over Atlanta allowed Falcons running back Michael Turner to burn Indianapolis for a pair of long runs. Condren, meanwhile, came up with a pair of interceptions during extended playing time against Atlanta, but he sometimes also finds himself out of position on particular plays.

“When the game slows down and you feel like you’re in the right place, you can play aggressively. And that’s what’s happening for Brandon [and Session],” Dungy said. “Especially in both of those guys’ cases. In college, they made a ton of plays. They had that freedom to go to the ball. And to get them to understand that the ball may be there, but these guys can run anywhere and you’ve got to really be gap-disciplined. That sometimes takes a little bit.

“But it’s coming and both those guys are really progressing. But they are naturally aggressive guys, they have ability and they have instincts. They make plays that sometimes you wouldn’t normally make also and you don’t want to take that away from them.”

• Roster move — The Colts added rookie tight end Tyrice Thompson to the roster Wednesday and released linebacker Danny Verdun-Wheeler.

Thompson was originally signed by Tampa Bay on May 2 as an undrafted free agent. A former walk-on for Arizona State, the 6-foot-5, 220-pounder caught 15 passes for 272 yards and a touchdown as a senior.

• Injury list — Sitting out Wednesday’s workout were wide receiver Roy Hall (hamstring), rookie linebacker Philip Wheeler (knee), rookie defensive end Curtis Johnson (shoulder), rookie defensive end Marcus Howard (strained oblique muscle), rookie defensive tackle Eric Foster (calf) and defensive end Robert Mathis (sprained left ankle).

Defensive end Josh Thomas (groin) returned to practice Tuesday and is expected to see playing time Sunday night against Buffalo.

        

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