Adrian Peterson Will Be A Game-Time Decision

Peterson has been hinting that we would like to give it a go, and even told reporters that missing Week 1 would be a “hard pill to swallow,” but the team is going to be careful to protect the health of their best offensive player.

The Vikings host the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday, Sept. 9 in their 2012 NFL regular season opener.

Given the nature of his injury, something like five to 10 carries in Week 1 would be something of a success story for Peterson and the Vikings. We’re talking major reconstructive surgery here, dating back to the final week of the 2011 season. His confidence is definitely a good sign for the Vikings either way.

Peterson tore his ACL last December. While he is a crucial part of the Vikings’ offense, Adrian Peterson sitting out may be a better option for the team than Andrian Peterson returning too soon. Frazier again:

Peterson saw no action in the preseason, but recent activities in practice have given the team and fans reason to be optimistic.

Peterson’s first practice under the new rules -- pertaining only to his upper body, of course -- took place on Monday afternoon with coach Leslie Frazier sounding happy with how things have progressed.

“Thudding” is a great word, but more than that it has to be good news for Vikings fans that Peterson is responding well to contact in practice after being held out of the Vikings’ earlier preseason games.

Peterson, coming back from a horrific knee injury suffered toward the end of last season, has only recently come to grips with the Vikings’ decision to sit him for the team’s two remaining preseason games. He’ll apparently be allowed to do his pre-game duties Friday night, however, according to ESPN’s Chris Mortensen.

The same plan will likely be in place for next week’s preseason finale, too, before Peterson returns to the starting lineup for the season opener.

Peterson returned to practice ahead of schedule after tearing the ligaments in his knee during an essentially meaningless game late last season, and he had hoped to get some preseason carries. That mindset has changed, however, as the running back told The Associated Press on Tuesday that he’s decided to hop in line with the Vikings’ view on things.

Peterson probably didn’t have a say in the matter considering Minnesota wasn’t likely to risk re-injury in an exhibition game, but it’s good to see he’s saying the right things anyway.

Peterson hasn’t played since Christmas Eve last season, when he tore two ligaments in left knee. He’s been relentlessly rehabbing ever since. He was only moved off of the PUP list on Aug. 12 and has only gone through four practices with the Vikings.

Speaking with reporters on Monday, Vikings offensive coordinator Bill Musgrove suggested that the team would likely sit him out:

Peterson is still recovering from reconstructive knee surgery after tearing the ACL and MCL in his left knee in a game on Dec. 24, 2011, but he’s progressing well and is expected to play in Minnesota’s first regular season game.

Peterson tore both the ACL and MCL in his left knee on Christmas Eve in 2011, but has been an active participant at Vikings’ training camp. Peterson was just 30 yards shy of eclipsing 1,000 yards rushing for the fifth consecutive season before he went down with the gruesome injury.

Despite how well he’s looked in camp, Frazier will continue to exercise caution with Peterson:

While there are those who feel Peterson is coming back from torn knee ligaments too quickly, including Hall of Fame wide receiver Jerry Rice, Peterson admits that he is back to action faster than expected. Here are his comments on his return to radio station KFAN in Minneapolis:

Peterson dismissed Rice’s statement, and is focused on cutting and looks forward to getting hit. He added that his coaches tell him to “run in a straight line,” but he disregards the advice.

Peterson is slowly integrating himself back into the fold, and when he gets the ball out of the backfield the defense is going to great lengths to make sure they don’t touch him.

It’ll be interesting to see if Peterson decided to have “some fun” with those players once he’s cleared to take -- and likely dole out -- some contact in practice.

Judd Zulgad of 1500 ESPN reports that Vikings head coach Leslie Frazier remains cautious about bringing Peterson back into action, but is not surprised that the superstar has recovered so quickly from his injury.

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Frazier told the Star Tribune that Peterson might still not be ready for the start of the NFL season, but rather his being removed from the Physically Unable To Perform list was just the next step in what could be a long process.

Frazier didn’t set a timetable for when we will know that, leaving quite a bit up in the air regarding Peterson’s status at this point in time.

Prior to Sunday’s news, Peterson was expected to return by the start of the regular season, but not too long before. He was placed on the active/PUP list, giving the Vikings an extra roster spot to work with during training camp. The fact that the veteran was taken off the list so soon has to be encouraging to fans, but expect coaches and staff to continue to be overly cautious.

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A player can’t be added to the active/PUP list during training camp. He has to be placed there before it starts. So this gives the Vikings and extra roster spot for camp while Peterson continues his rehab.

If he’s going to be ready for Week 1, he’ll need to come off that list sometime during camp.

Robert Klemko of USA Today reports that Vikings head coach Leslie Frazier is optimistic about Peterson’s progress, but will remain cautious at the beginning of the season.

Vikings fans will of course be hoping that Peterson will be able to return to form in 2012.

That doesn’t necessarily mean that Peterson’s completely healthy, however, as 1500 ESPN’s Judd Zulgad did a bit of reading between the lines this week while talking to Vikings head coach Leslie Frazier.

It wouldn’t be the worst news in the world if Peterson opened preseason on the PUP list, but it’s still far too early to tell whether or not he’ll be ready for Week 1 of the NFL’s regular season.

Peterson is so far along in his recovery, apparently, that he’s racing his teammates, according to The Associated Press.

Peterson began running in early February and sounds like he’s on track for his goal to start the opening game of the season.

Peterson has stated that he would like to be back on the field by Week 1, though it’s unclear if that’s likely. He didn’t start running until a month after the late February date he predicted. Regardless, Vikings fans have to be encouraged that so far there haven’t any major setbacks to speak of.

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Tim Yotter at Scout.com reports that Peterson appeared on a local radio station on Friday morning and relayed positive news about his rehab.

Peterson believes he will start running on Feb. 28. Certainly good news for the Vikings and their fans. Peterson has led all NFL rushers in yardage since 2007 and the team is hoping he will come back in 2012 and continue to be an impact player.

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Peterson’s injury has been called an eight or nine month recovery process which means he could be in danger of allowing this injury to affect his 2012 season. Training camp and preseason is about eight months away while the regular season starts next September, about nine months away.

Vikings head trainer Eric Sugarman talked this week (via ESPN 1500) about Peterson’s recovery process:

“It definitely didn’t feel good,” he said after the game. “I knew initially right when it happened that it was something serious. So I don’t know, I’m just anxious to see, find out and then go forth from there.”

“Anytime you take a blow to the knee like that, you’re concerned about the ACL, MCL,” he later added before learning the extent of his injury. “I’m trying to stay as positive as I can.”

Peterson was already dealing with an ankle injury that had cost him several weeks, but he was having a decent game at the time of the injury. He had rushed for 38 yards and scored a touchdown at the time of the injury.

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