Posted by ESPN.com's Paul Kuharsky
The Colts won nine games last season without receiver Marvin Harrison (knee) and six without defensive end Dwight Freeney (foot).
But winning minus an elite quarterback is a different issue entirely.
Peyton Manning ranks right at the top of the list of indispensable players in the league, and the Colts are certainly optimistic he won't miss a game for the first time in his career because of surgery he had Monday to remove an infected bursa sac in his left knee.
Team doctors and trainers had provided Manning with what team president Bill Polian called "conservative treatment" since February, a course of treatment that "was productive until Peyton experienced increased pain and early signs of infection," presumably recently.
At the Manning Passing Academy in Thibodeaux, La. July 10-13, Manning wore a wrap on the knee.
It's not the first time Manning has dealt with a bursa sac issue.
In his senior year at Tennessee, he ruptured the bursa sac in his right knee on Dec. 6, 1997 during Tennessee's win over Auburn in the SEC Championship Game.
According to the Associated Press, the resulting infection landed him in the hospital for five days, and he joked that he caught up on about four years of sleep in that time as well as plenty of "The Young and the Restless."
The day after the injury, the Knoxville News Sentinel reported, he woke with what he described as "a gigantic bubble on my knee." A few days later when he was in New York to make an appearance on David Letterman, a New York Giants team doctor told Manning it was the most swollen knee he'd ever seen.
"I hate being hurt," Manning said at the time. "When other guys are hurt, I'll look at them like, 'You shouldn't be hurt.'"
Reports said he was limping when he arrived in South Florida for the Orange Bowl against Nebraska, but 22 days after suffering the injury he was on the field for the first practice session there.
The Volunteers lost 42-17 on Jan. 2, 1998 and Manning, under heavy pressure throughout the game, managed just 21 of 31 passing for 134 yards, one touchdown and one interception.
Ten years later, the bursa sac problem in Manning's other knee forced surgery. The recovery timetable is longer and he's older.
Will his missed time have an impact on the rhythm between Manning and his targets that's so crucial to the success of the Colts' offense?
Out four to six weeks, he stands to miss all or most of training camp, which breaks on Aug. 15.
If he makes it back in five weeks, he could participate in the final five of the team's scheduled 25 full-team practices. The Colts play five preseason games, three of which fall after that.
Will his return leave enough time for Manning to be sharp and for his receivers to re-establish their connection with him for the Sept. 7 regular season opener at home against Chicago in NBC's Sunday night game?
Manning and Reggie Wayne know each other inside and out, and the quarterback's connection with tight end Dallas Clark produced a team-high 11 touchdown receptions last year.
But while Manning and Harrison have a long-standing and incredibly successful relationship, it's been quite a while since they've been able to put it to regular use.
The team's young receiver target with the biggest role, Anthony Gonzalez, is heading into his second season as the slot receiver. Not far removed from Ohio State, he'd certainly benefit from more work with Manning and less with backup Jim Sorgi, who stands to get far more snaps with the starters.
Kuharsky joined ESPN.com in 2008 after 12 years covering the Oilers/Titans and the NFL for The (Nashville) Tennessean. The New Jersey native and Columbia graduate lives in Nashville with his wife.
