Peyton Manning Practices With Broncos Scout Team In Return

Manning will travel with the team to Pittsburgh and Kubiak said Manning will most likely be on the Broncos sideline for the game.

Now, his father Archie is saying the injury did not begin during a Week 10 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs when he was forced to leave the game.

Having already been ruled out for Sunday’s game in Pittsburgh, quarterback Peyton Manning was scratched from Friday’s practice after feeling some soreness in his foot earlier in the day.

“I’ve got to see where he’s at; we’ve got to talk through our situation and see where’s he at”, Kubiak said.

“It was a little unusual to see Peyton take those scout team reps today”, Osweiler told reporters at practice.

Oakland Raiders defensive end Khalil Mack (52) sacks Denver Broncos quarterback Brock Osweiler (17) during the second half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Dec. 13, 2015, in Denver.

This is the first time he has had to work his way back, and the first time his team has had to seriously consider if he will be inserted back into the starting lineup when he gets healthy.

“I’ll visit with Peyton here this afternoon before he leaves, ” Kubiak said.

If Manning practices this week, it would be a significant step toward being available to play, if not this week then perhaps December 28 against the Bengals (10-3) as a test of sorts before the playoffs. “It just happened this morning, so it’s a decision we made with what we’re doing”. He progressed to throwing indoors on his own last week and this marked his first practice with his teammates in 32 days.

Even though he’s been sidelined a month, Manning’s 17 interceptions still lead the league. In Osweiler’s defense, he’s still getting used to this-you’d expect him to get better as he gets more starts under his belt.

Now, there’s two ways to take this: (1) The injury is more serious than we’ve thought, and any hopes of Manning regaining his play is lost, or (2) these last four, going on five, weeks are exactly what Manning needed to get himself healthy and ready to play.

The Broncos have scored just 29 points in their last two games (win over the Chargers, loss to the Raiders). “I have a lot of faith in both of those guys”, Green said. “Absolutely. If they do, we’ll have a plan for it and that goes back to what we do on Mondays”, Osweiler said.

Notes: DL Malik Jackson returned to practice Friday as a proud first-time papa following the birth of his daughter, Nahla, on Thursday.