The paper, citing a source familiar with Manning’s health, said the quarterback is still recovering from surgery in May to repair a disk in his neck.

Manning, who had his first neck operation in March 2010 to remove calcium buildup, had a recurrence of pain throughout last season. He tried to remedy the problem without surgery this offseason but finally had to undergo a second surgery after doctors told him he had no other choice.

Colts owner Jim Irsay said after Manning’s procedure in May that “it’s a six-to-eight-week recovery period. I think this is one you can bounce back from quickly.’’

Concussion suit filed Mark Duper, Ottis Anderson, and 73 other former players sued the NFL, claiming it concealed information about the danger of concussions for decades.

The negligence, fraud and liability suit was filed Tuesday in Los Angeles Superior Court. Many players’ wives also are plaintiffs.

The suit alleges the NFL knew as early as the 1920s of the harmful effects of concussions but concealed them from coaches, trainers, players, and the public until June 2010. It also names helmet-maker Riddell, the NFL’s official helmet supplier.

It seeks unspecified damages.

“We have not seen the complaint but would vigorously contest any claims of this kind,’’ NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said.

Riddell spokeswoman Laura Moore said the company had not yet reviewed the complaint and would not comment on pending litigation.

According to the suit, the NFL knew for decades that multiple blows to the head can cause long-term brain injury but fraudulently denied it, even as independent evidence showed that players were at risk.

The Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Committee was established by the NFL in 1994 to study the risk of long-term brain injury to players. The suit contends that the committee published “false, distorted and deceiving’’ findings that the risk was minimal in order to deceive Congress, players and the public.

The NFL only warned active players in June 2010 of the risks associated with multiple concussions and Riddell failed to warn active players until around the same time, the suit claims.

Jenkins retires Former Jets defensive tackle Kris Jenkins has announced his retirement after his last two seasons were cut short by serious knee injuries. Jenkins, released by New York in February, said yesterday on his Facebook page that he is “going to hang up the cleats!’’ Jenkins, who’ll be 32 Aug. 3, had said when he was cut that he still wanted to play. In making the announcement, the four-time Pro Bowl selection said his mind is “always willing to play, but my body deserves the rest.’’ . . . Jets linebacker Bart Scott blasted the NFL when he was told the league might eliminate two-a-day practices. “I think it’s wimping out, making football more soft,’’ Scott told the Newark Star-Ledger. “No reason to try and make camp easy. I get concerned you’re making football players weaker because you don’t push them past that threshold. I get concerned with the same thing with the quarterback stuff, that they turn it into flag football; they turn it into little pansy stuff.’’ . . . Former NFL quarterback Jim McMahon has been released from a Nevada hospital after he was injured in a crash in a limousine on the way from Lake Tahoe to the airport. McMahon and girlfriend Lori Navon were injured along with the driver on Monday when the limo swerved off US Highway 395 in Pleasant Valley and crashed through a barbed-wire fence into a drainage ditch. McMahon’s agent Vincent Calo told the Reno Gazette-Journal that the former Bear tore ligaments in his foot and suffered trauma to his head, neck, and back. Navon suffered a concussion . . . The Bengals will decide by tomorrow whether to hold the first few weeks of training camp in Georgetown, Ky. The staff at Georgetown College has made most of the preparations to host the Bengals for the 15th year in a row, athletic director Brian Evans told the AP. The original schedule calls for players to report on July 28, and hold their first workout the next day . . . Eagles quarterback Michael Vick, who signed with Nike this month, became an equity partner in Double Eagle Holdings, Ltd., the parent company of Fuse Science, Inc. Vick will endorse Fuse Science and its line of sports nutrition vitamins and minerals.