When the Indianapolis Colts announced that they were signing retired quarterback Kerry Collins, the news pretty much assured us that Peyton Manning will not be ready for the season opener due to his off season neck surgery.
Manning is still optimistic that he will be ready to play against Houston on Sept. 11 but the team doesn’t believe he will be ready.
If you’ve been paying attention to the Colts preseason games and saw how awful backup quarterback Curtis Painter has been playing then you’ll understand why the Colts went after Collins. But wide receiver Reggie Wayne didn’t like the signing of Collins at all.
Here’s what he had to say per ESPN.com:
“We don’t even know him, we ain’t vanilla, man, we ain’t no simple offense,” receiver Reggie Wayne said. “So for him to can come in here and be the starter, I don’t see it. I think that’s a step back.”
Wayne, a five-time Pro Bowler and one of Manning’s favorite targets, has supported backup Curtis Painter. And while he called Collins “a great guy,” he said he was worried about the Colts getting better.
“Who says Kerry’s going to be the starter?” Wayne said. “Just because we bring him in doesn’t mean he’s the starter. He’s got to learn too, right? Unless they gave him a playbook months ago, he’s got to learn to.
“I don’t care who you are, I mean I’m not going to let anyone just come in here and just push someone (like Painter) aside like you’re that dog now, you know what I mean?” Wayne added.
I see where Wayne is coming from. It is two weeks before the season opener and it will take awhile for Collins to learn the playbook. But to be honest if I was a Colts fans I would have more faith in Collins than in Painter.
Painter has complete eight passes on 16 attempts for 95 yards with one interception this preseason. And career stats: 8/28, 83 yards and two interception. Painter just isn’t good enough to be the starting QB for the Colts on Sept. 11.
Collins is a vet so he might catch on to the play book pretty fast. You never know. But I’d play Collins any day over Painter.
