New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning underwent surgery on his left ankle and is expected to be sidelined for at least six weeks. The injury isn't expected to affect his preparations for the 2014 season unless it "lingers" into June, ESPN's Dan Graziano reports.
"(Manning) underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left ankle Thursday, the team announced," Graziano wrote on Thursday. "Manning said in a release issued by the team that he expects to be able to run again in about six weeks."
Manning sprained his ankle in the Giants' regular-season finale against the Washington Redskins. He had been rehabbing his ankle since the offseason, but the injury did not significantly improve on its own.
"I went through the recovery and rehab after suffering the sprain," Manning said in a statement, via ESPN. "I was still experiencing some discomfort as I began my normal offseason preparation, and after consultation, we felt the right thing was to have Dr. Anderson clean out the ankle."
Manning expects to participate in the Giants' offseason program, which begins on April 21.
The injury isn't a cause for concern unless he isn't ready to go by June.
"This is not nothing. The franchise quarterback is being operated on, and there are things he'd normally be doing at this time of the year to prepare for the season that he won't be able to do," Graziano wrote. "But at this point it also does not appear to be something about which to be overly alarmed. If it lingers into June, and the Giants are on the field learning the new offense without Manning, then we can talk about ways which it might affect the 2014 seaosn.
"For now, we can give the most durable quarterback in the NFL the benefit of the doubt."
