Adrian Peterson set for surgery tomorrow, may miss 3-4 months

Posted by Michael David Smith on September 21, 2016, 11:26 AM EDT
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Vikings running back Adrian Peterson is heading for knee surgery, and he could miss most or all of the rest of the season.

Peterson told Josina Anderson of ESPN that he will have surgery to repair his torn meniscus on Thursday. Peterson said he’s “doing it with faith and optimism.”

A torn meniscus is not as serious an injury as some of the other knee injuries NFL players (including Peterson) have suffered, but Peterson could miss three or four months, Anderson reports.

The 31-year-old Peterson was off to a very rough start this season before he suffered the injury, with just 50 yards on 31 carries, an average of 1.6 yards a carry.

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70 responses to “Adrian Peterson set for surgery tomorrow, may miss 3-4 months”

  6. Take your time AP, just be back for the playoffs. The NFL didn’t care if you played when they screwed you over. No sense beating up your body before the playoffs….your still getting paid. Laugh all the way to the bank.

  7. As a Vikings fan, I hate to see any player on the team go down, but as a realist, I don’t see it as terrible. McKinnon and Asiata will work the position, not necessarily as well as Peterson (although this year he has done nothing) but both are skilled players who can contribute. Next man up.

  8. This sucks for the NFL. He’s one of the few guys that I would pay to see. And with TB out, the Vikings were going to use him to his fullest potential and now we won’t see it. Damn.

    Get well.

  9. Great teams succeed despite any adversity that confronts them throughout the season. Get healthy AP and I’m positive the guys will hold down the fort while you’re away. SKOL!

  10. I hate to say this, but I believe the offense becomes more dynamic and unpredictable with AP out.

    I hope the surgery is successful and wish him well, but this doesn’t make the Vikings any less dangerous, and I wouldn’t be surprised to actually see an uptick in offensive output moving forward.

  15. These Viking knee injuries suck, particularly so early in the season. One of the reasons the passing game has come easy for Hill and Bradford was that defenses were geared up to stop AP — it will be interesting to see how that plays out now that the run threat is minimized.

  16. Hmmm. 6 million dollar roster bonus due March ’17, followed by a 12-mil salary that presumably guarantees sometime before the season starts… He’s 32 next year, and looked like crap this year….

    Buh bye!

    However, perhaps he can play a Kaepernick-esque injury guarantee card somehow and stall things until things guarantee. Dunno, depends on the contract, but for whatever strange reason the team gave him a very friendly contract in 2015.

  17. With his last carry for the Vikings being last Sunday, I just want to say thank AD for all the memories. It’s been a pleasure watching you run train on opposing teams with the purple. Best of luck with your recovery.

    Skol.

  19. Just stay away from all those kids you have spread all over…I’m sure your miraculous doctor from a few years ago can heal this quick…Minnesotians are depending on it.

  21. So sorry to hear of your loss, Vikings. If we lost Aaron in Tittietown we’d be devastated. Not that we aren’t anyway.

  22. Running backs are dime dozen if your o line performs. The Vikings need to address the o line fast then running game will come along.

  23. Absolutely brutal season so far as far as injuries are concerned for the Vikings. But this is why Rick acquired all of that depth. Its been fairly obvious that the Vikings need to join the rest of the NFL and become a pass first team. McKinnion is the ideal back for this new offense. Excited to see it develop.

  25. Vikings super bowl here you come! Bueeehhhrrrr (Viking horn)
    You’re defense is so amazing though that they will carry you to a ring like the Broncos last season. Nope, no discernible difference in you teams

  27. I don’t care who it is. RB over 30 is done…at least as a regular every down back. We already know how it went with MCKinnon and Asiata trying to carry the load 2 years ago. Time for the Vikes to start looking for a long and short term amswer at RB.

  28. thunderclap says:
    Sep 21, 2016 11:45 AM
    When asked for a comment, Zim said Peterson was day-to-day.

    4 1

    —–

    Because he had the option of having his meniscus removed or repaired.

    Removed; 2-4 weeks with potential for further damage and long term complications, like arthritis.

    Repaired; 3-4 months and be back to (almost) 100%.

    AP chose repaired.

  30. “Peterson said he’s “doing it with faith and optimism.””

    Much better than his typical doing it with switches and sticks tactics!

  34. Ugh. What horrible luck the Vikings are having so far this year. Now the offensive line can no longer “wait” to gel. They have to step it up now! And if they do, McKinnon is good enough to soften the blow of losing AP.

    Also, the rumor has been that the reason we signed Shurmur as the TEs coach was to incorporate more of the west coast offense into Norv’s system. I think with McKinnon/Asista in the backfield, we are going to see more of a west coast style the rest of this season.

    Bottom line, if they can stay relatively healthy on defense, they should be ok.

  37. If you would have told me before the season that Bridgewater and Peterson would be out by Week 2, I would have thought the season is over. After watching the first two games, however, I’m excited to see how things are going to turn out. Bradford got off to a great start with limited practice, Diggs is the real deal, and the defense looks better than last year.

    As long as we don’t lose Zimmer for the season, I think this team will continue to find a way to win.

  38. Hate to say it, but I think this is the end of AD’s career in Minnesota. His age, his injuries, and his current salary will assure that he isn’t back next season.

    I have to admit though, I like what Asiata and McKinnon bring to the team. McKinnon is lighting fast, a great receiving threat, and Asiata is a much better blocker than AD. Teams will have a much harder time game planning for a duel threat versus preparing for AD. I think that becomes Minnesota’s advantage. It will also more than likely open up the passing game a bit more. Next man up, we have a Championship to bring to that beautiful new stadium.

    #Skol

  39. I think Adrian made the right decision to have the repair. He’ll miss more time this season but he’ll be able to walk a lot better when he’s older. With his recuperative powers, he very well could be back for the next Packer game on Christmas Eve. By that time, the Vikings will have established their new identity of a pass-first offense, they won’t feel the need to run the ball two of every three plays, and teams won’t be able to stack the box to stop Peterson. I predict the Vikings will make the playoffs and Adrian Peterson will be a contributor, not a focal point, to a nice playoff run.

  41. sindiegosage says:
    Sep 21, 2016 11:40 AM

    This sucks for the NFL. He’s one of the few guys that I would pay to see. And with TB out, the Vikings were going to use him to his fullest potential and now we won’t see it.
    ______

    Uh, I have news for you. We did see it. With TB out, the Titans and Packers both had nine guys in the box to stop AP and all he had to show for it was 31 carries for 50 yards and a torn meniscus. They weren’t going all out to stop Peterson last year like they were without Teddy. I think teams would have learned they can’t keep that up with Sam in at QB, but let’s not say having Teddy out was going to help Adrian.

  42. No worries……he will come out of the candy dispenser end of December like a brand new snickers just waiting to play better than ever in the……..playoffs? Not so fast Viking fans, first you gotta get to January games, 2nd, what good would a workhorse knee injured running back be to you, trying to wet his feet on the prime time stage. ‘If’ you make the playoffs….Peterson won’t be integrated back into an evolved offense. Your team is either going to actually improve from their run all day offense and be more unpredictable, or will collapse and have to wait til next year to cart Adrian back out as the only option on offense.

  44. McKinnon and Asiata will be just fine. Peterson wasn’t the best catching passes out of the backfield and wasn’t much for blocking for the QB- Jerick and Matt can do that. When Diggs is dragging double-coverage deep- that will open things up for the guys coming out of the backfield. Bottom line is this O-line needs to gel and it needs to gel quick- that’s the bigger problem.

    This “new” offensive is going to be QB driven- something we haven’t seen in quite a while.

  45. One thing this injury does is ensure that Adrian doesn’t get $18 million next season. Not that he was going to get it anyway, but now it will be a lot easier to either drop him outright or convince him to take a massive pay cut. I think there’s a fair chance he agrees to that pay cut because he’ll probably still make more here than anywhere else and this will be a championship contender.

    Those of you saying AP’s career in Minnesota is over may be right, and maybe it should be, but I think there’s a better chance that he plays another game for the Vikings.

  46. His ability to break off long runs is going to be missed. Most people on this site don’t understand that when an extra player is stacked in the box and he breaks through the line he has one player left to juke and its TD city from anywhere on the field. That will be missed. What won’t be missed is his inept blocking and failure to catch out of the backfield. Just watch the yards that McKinnon and Asiata are going to pile up on screen plays. AP would juggle the ball or just drop it. Or when Norv put him out wide as a receiver. Whenever that happened I was like there’s a wasted down. Just like that awful wildcat. Just like TB and MK going to IR, AD getting hurt is going to end up Being a blessing in disguise.

  47. They have a good young defense. What intrigues me most, is since I feel that Theodore Bridgewater was a game manager it didn’t really hurt the Vikings when he went down, I feel that it’s a Luxury in the NFL to have a talented RB, as a team tends to be around .500 only get over the hump with great QB play (R. Williams, Portis, Holmes).

    There has been 2 games this season, so I am not ready to get ready to scream panic over GB or, label Bradford the come back player of the year, but one thing is certain. Everyone is going to find out what the VIkings staff is made out of.

  48. All this does is take the handcuffs off Norv and allow him more flexibility in his play calling. I’m only concerned about time of possession, but it’s not like 50 yds on 31 carries was moving the chains. I do think Kalil was playing well, so hopefully Clemmmons is better than he was last year.

  50. Karma’s a bitch. This is the big guy upstairs paying you back for beating little kids. You’ll make it back just in time to sit home with the rest of the Vikings and watch the playoffs on TV.

    RIP, child beater.

  52. Steelers fan saying,

    Vikings defense is stout and Bradford looked good. If he develops a relationship with his receivers you have a chance to take the division again. I always thought the Vikings defense was flying under the radar because of A.P. success’. Fact is the defense kept them in many close games last year and won the division for them. I think the defense for the Vikes are even better than last year. If you have a good defense you always have a good chance.

  53. “Take your time AP, just be back for the playoffs. The NFL didn’t care if you played when they screwed you over. No sense beating up your body before the playoffs….your still getting paid. Laugh all the way to the bank.”

    What’s that? Ah — Playoffs? Don’t talk about — playoffs? You kidding me? Playoffs? I just hope we can win a game!

  54. This is a bummer and add the Kahlil news, plus our best corner not touching the field yet. Shows how good Zimmer is, he doesn’t let this stuff distract his team from the job at hand. Will be a tough game this week, but in Zimmer we all trust!

    p.s. AD being out while a bummer might not be the worst thing for the offense at this time. Jet, As, and now hillman all work better out of the shotgun than AD did, and until they get this OL to gel I anticipate a lot of shotgun formations!

  57. Well, he’ll be back next year, but I think his best years are officially behind him. Frankly, at the price he costs, I’ll be surprised if he doesn’t re-do his contract to stay with the team next year.

  58. And with that, we bid adieu to AP on the Vikings roster. It was a good run, you never won us anything and you’ve been nothing but totally irresponsible off the field. Good riddance.

    We got an itch to win, and there’s a new way to scratch – McKinnon & Asiata duel threat era begin! SKOL!!!

  59. I understand the Peterson injury having a negative impact, but not Bridgewater. Bradford is an upgrade over Bridgewater. You just saw a back-up win your first game, and Bradford win the second. The Vikings’ didn’t win because of a QB that averages 14 TD passes and 10 INT per season. They win because of their defense.

    Even with Peterson playing ineffectively, defenses had to account for him, and Bradford was able to capitalize on that- he won’t have that anymore.

    And Kalil being out- it’s just like any other team. I believe the Patriots had 3 OL starters out for last weeks game with Garropolo, and he was able to throw 3 TD passes. Few teams are able to keep their OL healthy throughout a season.

  60. Seriously, Zimmer is just outsmarting himself. I would assume that all medical staffs in the NFL know the range of coming back from a meniscus tear.
    —————–
    Considering there are 6 different types of meniscus tears each with optional treatments that range from coming back from a meniscus tear is 1 week to 6 months. I am sure medical staffs in the NFL and Zimmer without knowing these variables really pinpointed earlier in the week when Peterson would be available.

  61. And everyone was worried about Sam Bradford getting injured. He’s going to be the only one not injured at this rate.

  67. AP is 18 million cap hit next year

    $0 is dead cap.

    With the current knee injury, age and cost I would say the Vikings will cut Peterson.

    They will be looking to draft a stud RB in the 2nd round next year.

  68. “The Vikings are now on the clock. And with the 33rd pick of the 2017 NFL Draft, the Vikings select……”

    (Remember, there is no first rounder next year)

  70. Hopefully he’s out for good. This child-abusing piece of human waste should be in prison, and instead he’s making millions playing in the NFL. He should have to suffer as much as he made that innocent 4-year-old suffer by assaulting him.

    Shame on the NFL and the Vikings for welcoming back a self-admitted child abuser with open arms, and shame on any Vikings fan (or any fan for that matter) who was excited to see him return and acted like what he did wasn’t a big deal.

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