Peyton Manning Injury: Updates on Broncos Star's Thigh and Return

Peyton Manning suffered a thigh injury against the San Diego Chargers, but was able to return to the game. Despite that, the star quarterback was listed as questionable but is active in Week 16 vs. Cincinnati.

Continue for updates.

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Manning Active vs. Bengals

Monday, Dec. 22

Mike Klis of the Denver Post confirmed that Peyton Manning is active for Week 16 vs. the Bengals.

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Manning Listed As Questionable for Week 16

Saturday, Dec. 20

Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning suffered a thigh injury against the San Diego Chargers in Week 15. While he finished the game, the injury still lingers, and the team announced he is listed as questionable for the Broncos' Monday Night Football matchup with the Cincinnati Bengals.

Manning, 38, injured his thigh in the second quarter. He also battled an illness during the game, which may have contributed to the future Hall of Famer's pedestrian 233-yard, one-touchdown passing performance.  

Andrew Mason of DenverBroncos.com provided comments from Manning on Saturday: "Well, yeah, I mean, I was out for part of it. I guess I left during part of the time y’all were there so I could get some treatment. But yeah I was limited in participation today."

Jeff Legwold of ESPN weighs in on Manning's toughness and injury history:

While the severity of Manning's injury is unknown, the Broncos will take every precaution to preserve his health.

Manning played in all 16 regular-season games in 15 of his first 16 NFL seasons. The lone exception was in 2011, when a scary neck injury cost him the entire campaign and expedited his departure from Indianapolis. The Colts without Manning relied on a revolving door of miscasts en route to a 2-14 season.

The Broncos could be forced to go with Brock Osweiler, who hasn't seen much game-time action. Denver has been slowly developing the 2012 second-round pick, yet it's unclear whether he's even a replacement-level option. 

Uncredited/Associated Press

If he's not, panic could start to set in. General manager John Elway pushed the chips to the middle of the table with a Manning-centric core. Any extended absence could expose some of the flaws in that plan. 

Manning's injury essentially puts everything temporarily on hold. Assuming it's non-serious, the Broncos remain a strong contender in the AFC and should still get at least one home game in the AFC playoffs. Denver's time is right now. At least, it is if Manning is on the field.