Five weeks ago Vikings running back Adrian Peterson said he expects to be all the way back from knee surgery in time to play in Week One. As Peterson’s rehab continues, the Vikings remain optimistic about that.
Vikings coach Leslie Frazier said at the league meeting that while he doesn’t want to put a specific date on when Peterson will be at full speed, he does believe Peterson is making the necessary progress and perhaps even progressing more quickly than they expected.
“I don’t know if there’s a firm timeline but we are monitoring his progress,” Frazier said. “There’s certain things based on other people’s history with that injury that you kind of look to see if he’s hitting some of those marks. So far he has in some ways exceeded expectations. But it’s still relatively early. He’s just beginning to run, this week, on land. There are still some areas where we’ve got to monitor where he is, so it’s too early right now to say that he’s going to absolutely make it back by the first game but so far he’s on target with everything we’ve asked him to do.”
The last thing the Vikings want to do is push Peterson to get back on the field too quickly, so it’s not surprising that there was a tone of caution in Frazier’s voice. But Peterson, who suffered his torn ACL on December 24, seems likely to make it back on the field after eight and a half months.