Colts confirm Manning had 2nd knee surgery
Indianapolis Colts coach Tony Dungy confirmed Monday, after nearly two months of deflecting questions, that quarterback Peyton Manning’s left knee was operated on a second time before returning to the field in late August.
Dungy doesn’t believe the second operation – to fix an infected bursa sac – was the reason the team had a sluggish start this season.
“I don’t think it set him back, it was part of the rehab process,” Dungy said. “The time frame we were initially looking at was when he came back.”
Manning was not available in the locker room a day after the Colts routed Baltimore 31-3, in what was easily his best game of the season. Manning typically does interviews only on Wednesdays and after games.
But he told the CBS broadcast team about the second surgery at a pregame meeting, prompting announcers Jim Nantz and Phil Simms to address the issue during Sunday’s game.
Manning did not deny having a second surgery, although he had previously referred it to as irrelevant.
The two-time league MVP has said he is continuing to rehabilitate the knee that caused him to miss training camp, all five preseason games and kept him off the field until Aug. 26.
Manning wasn’t as precise with his passes until Sunday, when he threw for 271 yards and three touchdowns and had his highest quarterback rating of the season (134.7). Earlier this season, Manning acknowledged the knee also had forced him to make more pitches on running plays than straight handoffs.
•Reports: Alexander headed to Redskins: Former Seahawk Shaun Alexander will visit the Washington Redskins today and is expected to sign with the team if he passes a physical examination.
A source close to Alexander confirmed that’s the direction Alexander appears headed, news first reported by the NFL Network and ESPN.com.
Alexander, the league MVP in 2005, has remained unsigned since Seattle released him just before the NFL draft in April.
•Palmer still out: Quarterback Carson Palmer will miss at least one more game because of a sore passing elbow, an injury that has left the Cincinnati Bengals’ offense in chaos.
Palmer stayed behind in New York after a 26-14 loss to the Jets on Sunday to get a second opinion from Dr. David Altchek, who works with the Mets. Palmer was hoping to hear that he can get back on the field quickly for the winless Bengals.
Instead, coach Marvin Lewis said Palmer will miss a second straight game and his third overall because of the injury. Ryan Fitzpatrick will start Sunday against the Pittsburgh Steelers, who lead the AFC North at 4-1 and are coming off a bye.
•Judge OKs drug treatment for Jags’ Jones: A judge in Fayetteville, Ark., allowed Jacksonville Jaguars receiver Matt Jones to enter a drug treatment program after the player was arrested on a cocaine charge earlier this year.
The decision by Washington County Circuit Judge Mary Ann Gunn means the former Arkansas quarterback could have the charge dismissed if he completes the treatment.
•Bears’ Metcalf suspended: Chicago Bears offensive linemen Terrence Metcalf was suspended for four games for violating the league’s policy on anabolic steroids and related substances. He is eligible to return to the active roster Nov. 17.
Nhl
Sabres rout Islanders
Thomas Vanek scored twice and Ales Kotalik and Jason Pominville each added a goal and two assists and the Buffalo Sabres beat the New York Islanders 7-1 in Uniondale, N.Y.
Jochen Hecht, Adam Mair and Clarke MacArthur also scored for the Sabres, who are 2-0-0 to start the season. Three of Buffalo’s goals came on the power play, and they also added a short-handed goal.
Patrick Lalime made 23 saves for the Sabres.
•Rangers stay undefeated: Brandon Dubinsky had a goal and two assists, and linemate Aaron Voros had two goals and three points while pestering Martin Brodeur in the New York Rangers’ 4-1 victory over the New Jersey Devils in New York.
Voros scored the second and third Rangers goals, the last coming on a deflection of defenseman Paul Mara’s shot that restored the Rangers’ two-goal lead 1:39 into the third period. His presence in front of Brodeur provided enough distraction for the tip to go in.
That was just the cushion New York needed to improve to 5-0, matching the team’s best start established in 1983.
•Canadiens rally: Roman Hamrlik and Michael Komisarek scored goals 44 seconds apart in the third period, helping the Montreal Canadiens rally to beat the Philadelphia Flyers 5-3 in Philadelphia.
•Rangers prospect dies: Alexei Cherepanov, a 19-year-old first-round draft pick of the New York Rangers, died Monday during a Continental Hockey League game in Russia.
Former Rangers captain Jaromir Jagr played a shift with Cherepanov and was talking to his young Avangard Omsk teammate on the bench shortly after they left the ice, when Cherepanov suddenly collapsed, said a Rangers spokesman who talked to Jagr.
There was no collision that preceded the collapse, the spokesman said, but no other details were available.
Cherepanov scored the first goal of the game and had eight in 15 contests this season, his third with Avangard Omsk.
Cycling
Armstrong will ride in Giro
Lance Armstrong agreed to ride in next year’s Giro d’Italia and suggested the Italian race – not the Tour de France – will be the main target in his comeback season.
The American has never competed in the three-week Giro, considered the sport’s most prestigious stage race after the Tour.
Armstrong, 37, announced last month that he is returning to cycling after three years in retirement and hoped to win the Tour de France for an eighth time.
The 100th anniversary edition of the Giro is scheduled for May 9-31. The Tour de France starts July 4. The last rider to win both the Giro and the Tour in the same year was Marco Pantani in 1998. Pantani died of a cocaine overdose in 2004.