Earlier this month, Peyton Manning bemoaned the fact that the lockout has kept him from consulting with Erin Barill, the Indianapolis Colts' therapist who has helped Manning recover from all the aches and pains encountered throughout his 13-year NFL career. Manning said then that he had been taking a cautious approach in his rehab from a May neck surgery. We may now be seeing the result of such an approach. The Indianapolis Star, via a source familiar with Manning's health situation, reported Wednesday that Manning will not be healthy enough to participate when the Colts opening training camp. How long he'll be out remains a question without a firm answer. The Star's Bob Kravitz wrote: "It could be a week. It could be a couple of weeks. Or even most, or all, of training camp." Starting in March 2010, Manning underwent two operations on his neck in a 14-month span. His most recent neck surgery, which was performed May 23, corrected some disk problems.

Fantasy Analysis:

NFL Network's Michael Lombardi described Manning as looking "emaciated" during his passing camp earlier this month. That's probably a bit strong, but Manning is likely not in tip-top shape. He probably hasn't had many chances to build up his strength because a slow recovery and his absolute trust in the Colts' medical staff. So it's going to cost Manning some reps in training camp. But as I said a few weeks ago, are you really that concerned? Maybe there's some mild trepidation because a full absence of camp is a spoken possibility. But I don't think that's going to happen. Manning will return at some point and reconnect almost instantly with many of the same players he's been throwing to and playing behind for years now. Peyton remains a top-5 fantasy QB. By the way, Curtis Painter is listed as his current backup. So there's that.