Peyton Manning played with quad injury for past month

(SportsNetwork.com) - Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning will not only have to answer questions about his future in the coming days, but will also have to clarify the severity of a reported quad injury.

An ESPN report on Monday said Manning played the past month of the season with a torn right quad. The Denver Post somewhat refuted that, saying Manning played with a strained quad and not a full tear.

A quadriceps strain is a tearing of the muscle fibers in one of the four quadriceps muscle, most commonly occurring in the rectus femoris. The ESPN report said Manning has a torn rectus femoris.

Manning initially suffered the injury in Denver's Dec. 14 victory over the San Diego Chargers. He received treatment on the injury after the Chargers game and was listed on the injury report thereafter with a thigh injury.

The 38-year-old Manning fell to 11-13 in the playoffs with nine one-and-done exits following Sunday's Divisional Playoff loss to the Colts. Manning finished 26-of-46 passing for 211 yards and a touchdown in the 24-13 defeat.

The five-time league MVP was left mulling his future after the game.

"My mindset right now is just disappointment after today's game," Manning said. "I kind of need to process this game and we'll meet tomorrow, kind of need to process this game, so I'm disappointed right now."

Manning completed 77-of-121 passes for 990 yards, three touchdowns and six interceptions during the month of December.

For the season, Manning completed 66.2 percent of his passes for 4,727 yards with 39 touchdowns and 15 interceptions.

The Broncos are expected to discuss Manning's health in season-ending news conferences with coach John Fox and general manager John Elway later this week.