INDIANAPOLIS -- Running back Edgerrin James likely will be out the remainder of the season because of the left knee injury that has caused him to miss the Colts' last two games, a source close to the team told ESPN's Chris Mortensen.

	Manning

	James

The source said James' sprained left knee is "more serious" than first diagnosed and he "is probably out for the year."

James practiced late in the week after his injury but felt some swelling and stiffness in his left knee. Further tests showed ligament damage. However, Colts president Bill Polian only went as far as to say Monday that the team has declared James out 2-3 weeks, pending the results of a second opinion with a Florida doctor.

"In two to three weeks, the doctors expect to know more (about James' condition)," Polian said. "They believe two to three weeks is feasible before they decide what course of action to follow. At that point his conditioning will be a factor (as to if James can return)."

Colts coach Jim Mora and Polian disputed the claim that James could be out for the year.

"I was told 'Jim, it's on the Internet that Edgerrin is out for the season,"' Mora said in his Monday news conference. "So I turned my computer on. I read the report on ESPN and I just kind of chuckled. I don't know where they get this information."

"It (the report) is a lot of uninformed speculation from people who are uninformed," Polian said.

To add to the Colts' injury problems, quarterback Peyton Manning suffered an incomplete hairline fracture of his jaw in the fourth quarter of the Colts' loss Sunday to Miami.

Manning underwent oral surgery Monday, but is expected to play Sunday against the New Orleans Saints.

Manning was hit by Dolphins defensive end Lorenzo Bromell early in the fourth quarter. He finished the 27-24 loss with the jaw painfully swollen, bloodied and packed with gauze.

The oral surgeon stabilized his jaw and teeth with a splint ,which Manning will have to wear for at least four weeks.

"The splint is likely to remain for four weeks and he should be able to practice and play, which obviously is good news," Polian said.

"I can't eat any solid food, just milkshakes, things like that," Manning said Monday, struggling to talk a day after the injury. "But I've got to try and maintain my diet with whatever I can."

Doctors told Manning a retainer he has worn since childhood probably kept the injury from being more severe.

Manning participated in a full practice Wednesday wearing an orthodontic retainer to stablilize his teeth.

"They said if it wasn't in there, it might have shattered it pretty good," he said. "I don't wear a mouthpiece, especially because of what we do here."

That is likely to change this week. Manning said he was fitted Monday for a mouthpiece and intends to try it out at practice this week. If he's able to call plays and audible, he'll use it.

James, who suffered the sprained knee on Nov. 1, sat out his second consecutive game Sunday.

In addition, the Colts lost linebacker Mike Peterson with a torn posterior cruciate ligament in his knee.

The Colts said Peterson, the Colts' leading tackler, will be out at least two weeks. But Mortensen reported that Peterson will miss four-to-six weeks. Peterson, who had 75 tackles entering the game, was replaced by Mike Morton.

"You lose your best defensive player early in the game, by far our best defensive player, but hey, I don't use injuries as an excuse ever," Mora said. "He'll miss some time."

The Colts almost lost James' replacement, Dominic Rhodes, too.

Rhodes spent some time on the sideline with a partial dislocation of his left shoulder after he was hit at the end of an 11-yard run on the third play of the game.

"As I was going to the ground on that run, somebody hit me on the back of my shoulder. When he hit me, it just kind of came out," the rookie running back said. "I hurt this shoulder in high school, had surgery on it, and it came out last year when I was in college. I came back and played the next week, just like tonight."

Rhodes, starting his second straight game, returned in the second quarter and finished with 42 yards on 14 carries.

Indianapolis also played much of the game without guard Steve McKinney, who fractured the transverse process, a bone in his lower back. He is expected to miss up to six weeks.

Information from The Associated Press and SportsTicker was used in this report.