Top 5 moments from the first quarter of the Vikings’ 2018 season

3. Cook returns to the field

Three games into the 2017 season, rookie running back Dalvin Cook was making it very easy for Vikings fans to forget about the team opting not to re-sign Adrian Peterson earlier that year.

During the first three weeks of last season, Cook averaged 5.2 yards per touch and was on pace to finish the year with almost 2,000 total yards. But then in Week 4, the rookie rusher became the latest member of Minnesota’s torn ACL club.

Thanks to his knee injury, Cook’s rookie campaign ended early and any hopes of a promising season vanished into the air. The Vikings still ended up finding success in 2017, but it’s possible the team could have had an even better season with Cook in the backfield for the entire year.

Luckily for the young running back, the timing of his knee injury did make it possible for him to recover in time for Minnesota’s training camp this summer. After a few practices, it didn’t take very long for the Vikings to remember just how talented of a player they acquired in the second round of the 2017 NFL Draft.

Prior to Minnesota’s first game of the 2018 season, Cook got the thumbs-up from the team’s medical staff and was given back his role as the Vikings’ starting running back.

In Week 1 against the 49ers, Cook didn’t have an amazing performance, but he still showed flashes of the skills he displayed on the field in 2017. The Minnesota running back ended his first regular season game of 2018 with 95 total yards on 23 touches.

Not bad for a guy who was 11 months removed from tearing his ACL.