The first sign of hope for the Vikings came with reports that Adrian Peterson was running on the side at practice today.
It didn’t take long for Vikings coach Mike Zimmer to fuel the fire.
Via Matt Vensel of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Vikings coach Mike Zimmer said the words Vikings fans longed to hear ever since their star running back had knee surgery.
“He’s doing good. He’s doing good,” Zimmer added. “He’s probably ahead of schedule, I guess. I don’t know.”
Zimmer said it wasn’t the first day Peterson had run, before retreating to the safe ground of: “I don’t know, I’m not in charge of the rehab.”
Of course, that’s far from a declaration, and Zimmer may come to regret optimism depending on the pace of Peterson’s recovery. But any news stands as good news for an otherwise good team which can’t run without Peterson on the field.
The Vikings are last in the league in rushing and have lost five of their last six, but they’re still second in the division, so they’re clearly hoping for a Festivus miracle.