Owner: Peyton Manning Unlikely to Play This Season

INDIANAPOLIS – He has been mentioned as a potential outsider for the NFL's 2011 MVP award, but Peyton Manning's hopes of taking a snap this season appear finally over.

Manning's importance to the Indianapolis Colts was underlined by the team's 0-12 record without him, throwing his name into the MVP mix alongside active star quarterbacks Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers.

The newly-launched NFL Magazine named the injured 35 year old, a four-time recipient of the league MVP award, as its choice in this year's poll on account of Indianapolis' disastrous run.

Manning's neck now is said to be stable after missing all of the year recovering from a series of surgeries.

But Colts owner Jim Irsay suggested No. 18 will not have a chance to make his mark on the field before the season ends on New Year's Day at Jacksonville.

Irsay told WRTV that Manning "is doing everything he can to get back and is working as hard as he can" but added that he "doesn't see" him playing in any of the team's four remaining games.

"These things take time. The best doctors can't predict. People often think someone knows for sure, and the answer is only time will tell," Irsay said Thursday.