Tom Brady Has No Doubt Peyton Manning Will Fight Through Neck Injury, Play in Season Opener

by Jeff Howe on Wed, Aug 24, 2011 at 4:42PM

FOXBORO, Mass. — There's a growing feeling in Indianapolis that franchise quarterback Peyton Manning might not be ready for the Colts' regular-season opener, but Tom Brady expects nothing less than for Manning to be on the field in uniform.

Manning, who has started all 208 regular-season games of his NFL career, had offseason neck surgery and won't play in the preseason. The Colts gave word Saturday that there was some doubt over his availability for Week 1, and they signed veteran quarterback Kerry Collins on Wednesday.

Brady has no doubt that Manning is too much of a competitor to miss a game that counts.

"He'll be playing," Brady said Wednesday. "Are you kidding me? He’ll be playing. I know Peyton. He's as tough a competitor as there is, so it will hard to keep him out. I think I heard [former Colts head] coach [Tony] Dungy said that he'd have to be dead or something not to play in that game."