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Last updated on Thursday, September 8, 2011
(INDIANAPOLIS, IN) - It is now official, Peyton Manning will sit out the Indianapolis Colts’ season opener this Sunday in Houston and Kerry Collins will get the start.
Colts vice chairman Bill Polian announced that Manning will be out Sunday against the Texans.
Later, Manning issued a statement confirming that he is not healthy enough to play due to neck surgery he had last May.
The four-time league MVP has never missed a start since being drafted number-one overall by the Colts in 1998.
His streak of 208-consecutive regular season games started - 227 in a row if you include playoff games - will come to an end on Sunday.
With Manning's status now clear, the Colts returned to practice Wednesday to prepare for Sunday's game in Houston.
The Colts are the defending AFC South champions while the Texans were believed to be their toughest competition within the division before Manning went down with a neck injury.
The Texans beat the Colts in Houston 34-24 in the 2010 season opener while the Colts returned the favor in Indianapolis, knocking off the Texans 30-17 in a November 1st Monday night game.
Houston coach Gary Kubiak says he is hopeful that running back Arian Foster will return to practice today.
Foster, the 2010 NFL rushing champion, aggravated an injury to his left hamstring in the Texans' third preseason game against San Francisco.
He then tweeted pictures of the MRI, leading many medical experts to proclaim he would miss three to four weeks.
Kubiak is uncertain whether Foster will be able to play against the Colts on Sunday.
Derrick Ward, Ben Tate and Steve Slaton shared the work in practice at running back on Wednesday.
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