The Indianapolis Colts claim that quarterback Peyton Manning will be ready for the team’s regular-season opener, on the evening of September 7 against the Bears.   Manning recently underwent surgery to remove an infected bursa sac from his knee.

“That’s our expectation,” team president Bill Polian told the Indianapolis Star on Tuesday afternoon.

Even though Manning will miss all of training camp and most if not all of the preseason, Polian says that “no one’s losing any sleep over this.”

“Don’t forget, he’s had every practice for 11 years,” Polian said.  “I don’t know that missing some practice time is going to do any harm at all, to be truthful with you.”

That’s fine, if we can believe that Manning will indeed be ready for the regular-season opener.  But, frankly, we can’t believe anything that Polian says about the issue.

This isn’t a rip on Polian (for a change).  We’d have the same suspicion about any other team, especially the Colts’ arch enemies in New England.

If Manning has a serious problem that will cause him to miss one or more regular-season games, there’s no reason for the Colts to say so right now.  Instead, it’s in their best interests to make other teams think that Manning will be healthy and ready to go in Week One. 

Also, to the extent that the Colts might be inclined to try to trade for a veteran quarterback who’d be better suited than Jim Sorgi to take the reins, the Colts would lose leverage in such discussions.  The same reasoning also applies if the Colts were inclined to try to sign a veteran free agent, such as Daunte Culpepper.  If Culpper or his agent (um, Culpepper) knows that Culpepper is sorely needed, then the price tag for his services would be higher.

So, basically, we can’t trust the team on this issue.  And that’s okay; if Manning is going to miss a big chunk of the season or more, nothing is gained by admitting it now, and there’s no requirement that they do so.