A season that’s already had its share of bad moments for Denver Broncos QB Peyton Manning got a little bit worse on Monday as ESPN confirms that the 39-year old quarterback has torn plantar fascia in his foot.

Whether or not the NFL’s new all-time passing yards leader (he passed Bret Favre’s mark of 71,838 yards on Sunday) will be out for multiple weeks remains to be seen, but the way Manning has been playing, it’d be hard to not let him rest at this point.

The former Tennessee Volunteer just hasn’t looked like the same quarterback that broke the NFL single-season TD and passing yards record in 2013. With two TDs to seven INTs since the Broncos Week 7 bye, the five-time MVP is no longer putting his team in position to win football games.

No timetable has been announced for Manning’s return, but after the game Denver coach Gary Kubiak blamed himself for putting his 39-year old QB in the position that he did.

“To be honest with you, I was protecting him. I was worried about him,” Kubiak told ESPN after the game. “I’m disappointed in myself… I probably should have made a decision not to play him in the game. I needed to make probably that tough decision there.”

Despite the matchup with New England in two weeks, I see no reason why the Broncos should rush back their leader behind center. Even without Manning, Denver should still feel good about their chances in road games against sub .500 teams Chicago and San Diego over the next three weeks, especially with the NFL’s top defense.

Hopefully one of the all-time greats can get back on the field at 100% this season as the NFL is simply a better league with Peyton Manning calling the plays.