Adrian Peterson Could Return Friday Night Against San Diego

Leslie Frazier confirmed on Sunday that the Vikings are working to get Adrian Peterson back on the field for Friday’s third preseason game. The coach said, “We’re going to get him a little bit more each day and see how he responds. We need to determine what’s the next step.”

If Peterson has his way, the next step will be starting at running back against the San Diego Chargers at the Metrodome. Obviously this depends on how he looks during the week. Signs thus far have been encouraging but if any sort of issue crops up you can bet the Vikings won’t hesitate to shut Peterson down.

There will no doubt be folks out there who question the wisdom of getting Peterson back on the field so quickly. Why rush him back and risk further injury? This very concern was raised by Jerry Rice who himself battled back from an ACL tear and probably returned too soon. Rice said he regretted rushing himself and says he hopes Peterson doesn’t make the same mistake.

But by all accounts Peterson has gone through the whole rehab process at the pace recommended by doctors and if getting back on the field is the next logical step in that process? There’s no reason for him not to do it. Let him play for a series, just to get his feet wet. The poor guy is probably going crazy from standing around. I’m sure he won’t take any silly risks, and I’m sure the Vikings won’t leave him out there longer than they should. They’ve been careful all along, so why would that change now?

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