Terre Haute, Ind. ? The Indianapolis Colts finished training camp the same way they started it, with plenty of questions.

Peyton Manning has been kept out of public view. Bob Sanders and Dwight Freeney haven’t practiced yet, three additional players remain on the physically unable to perform list and a handful of other starters have been hurt, too.

It’s not the way a projected Super Bowl contender wants to start a season, but that’s the predicament the Colts face after wrapping up camp Friday.

“Everybody can say, ‘Oh, if Peyton Manning isn’t playing, the Colts are a .500 team,'” coach Tony Dungy said. “I don’t think anybody here believes that. Is it easier to win without Peyton? No. It’s going to be tougher. But if it happens, we’ll believe we can get it done.”

The Colts have reason to trust Dungy.

Since 1999, Indy has the league’s best record, 102-42. They’re 47-10 in their last 57 regular-season games, have been to the playoffs six straight years, won five straight division titles, earned the Super Bowl title after the 2006 season and last year became the first team in league history with five consecutive 12-win seasons.

Teams don’t string together those kinds of numbers unless they have capable replacements.

But this summer’s injury rash has some people worried.

Local radio talk shows are filled with questions about Manning’s status, and autograph seekers at training camp have asked other players, such as Sanders, when they will return.

Manning’s left knee, of course, is the biggest question. He had surgery July 14 to remove an infected bursa sac and stayed home when his teammates reported to camp July 24, because team doctors said it would reduce the risk of further infection.

On July 29, Dungy announced the two-time league MVP had finally arrived in Terre Haute. Since then, Manning has been out of sight, and thanks to the league’s longest-running drama – The Brett Favre Story – primarily out of mind to anyone outside Indiana.

Manning, who has started all 174 games including playoffs during his 10-year career, was expected to miss four to six weeks after the surgery.