Manning had his MRI...

And it revealed an injury to the plantar fascia, the thick sheath that surrounds the muscle along the bottom of the foot, according to a Giants spokesman. The statement went on to say he has soreness in the heel/arch area of the right foot.

That's a heck of a lot better than an Achilles tendon injury, but he's going to be in a lot of pain for a while. The timetable on when he'll be able to resume practice and play in a game will depend on how much pain he can take.

Judging by Manning's past, he can handle an awful lot of that. In 2007, he sprained his shoulder early in the season and never missed a start. He's also taken some hard hits and bounced right back up.

Manning told ESPN Radio last night that doctors said it was good news that Manning's injury was confined to the heel area and not widespread across the foot. “It’s not as serious an injury as (the doctor) has seen before, where it’s the whole foot that’s hurting,” Manning said. “It’s just kind of a portion of it."

Manning said he expects to play Sunday against Oakland.

"The last time, with the shoulder, (the doctor) said I’d be out a month and I played the next week,” Manning said. "It’s really just how fast you can heal."

He didn't rule out an anti-inflammatory injection to get him through the weekend.

"I'm just going to have to see," he said. "They can always give you an anti-inflammatory to take away some of the pain. We just have to see, take it one day at a time. I've been through injuries before, and you can feel awful on Monday and that's the worst. Hopefully, this feels a little better tomorrow and gets better every day.

"Right now, it's what can I possibly do to get this thing healed up. That's what I'm going to do."

He said that if he does return to practice, he'll be ever mindful of his mechanics to make sure he doesn't overcompensate for the foot with his arm and perhaps injure himself in another area.

"My gut feeling is I'm always going to go out and play," he said. "After I hurt my shoulder, I still went in and threw a touchdown to Plaxico Burress. This time, I threw a touchdown to Hakeem Nicks.

"As long as I don't hurt the team and I can function and make plays and move in the pocket, I'll be out there."

EP