The Indianapolis Colts have held firm that the medical issues surrounding quarterback Peyton Manning are far from being resolved.
Lombardi: Manning staying put
Peyton Manning's 2012 home is a topic of much debate, but Michael Lombardi believes the Colts QB isn't going anywhere. **More ...**
To that end, though, the team will make a decision in its head-coaching search independently of what plays out with the four-time NFL MVP's future.
While announcing the firing of coach Jim Caldwell on Tuesday, new Colts general manager Ryan Grigson indicated Manning's future wouldn't factor into the team's next search.
"In regards to Peyton, we're not even there with anything involving Peyton Manning quite yet," Grigson said. "We have to know about his medical, there are so many things. I'm not there yet."
Questions have loomed over Manning's future -- and how the Colts will use the No. 1 overall pick in the 2012 draft -- for months. Colts owner Jim Irsay has said the team is treating Manning's future, first and foremost, as a medical situation.
Grigson quickly shot down that anything should be read into the team trying to distance itself from Manning.
"I have not had a chance to even get with him yet," Grigson responded. "We're taking this thing piece by piece in a way that we feel is in the best interest of the franchise moving forward. We can't go in 50 different directions. We have to go about things in the right way."
Most believe there is little question as to which direction the Colts would go if they keep the No. 1 pick, but Irsay predictably said even that decision hasn't been reached yet.
"I think you guys know in 1998 how that process worked," Irsay said, referring to when the Colts drafted Manning first overall. "You do the evaluation, and Ryan (Grigson) has to sit down with our new head coach and it's a comprehensive evaluation you want to go to through. You can't make a decision before you have to."
