“There’s really a fine line there”, coach Mike Zimmer said Monday.
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“Everything is possible”, Zimmer said. In a road loss to the division-rival Minnesota Vikings, the Packers offense look like the same unit that struggled to move the ball down vertically or stay on the field throughout most of the 2015 season. Quarterback Teddy Bridgewater was lost for the season with a torn left ACL suffered August 30 in practice. The Vikings paid a steep price by giving up a first- and conditional fourth-round pick to Philadelphia to get Bradford, but what was the choice?
“The analysis of our offense after two games, the running backs have not been given enough opportunities, so that’s something that I need to focus on”, McCarthy said.
Minnesota running back is scheduled to have surgery Thursday morning to fix his torn meniscus. McCarthy said if the knee doesn’t require surgery Peterson likely would be out a “couple weeks” while he takes anti-inflammatory medicine and does physical therapy. McCarthy didn’t specifically say it was Matthews’ ankle injury that was the issue, and it didn’t look like it was his ankle that was bothering him as he sprinted off the field on the Vikings’ final possession, remaining on the sideline. Given the potential of the Vikings’ 2016 season – and Peterson’s limited window to maximize his production and future earnings – the quicker fix might be an attractive option.
Yes, it was ugly and some have started to call McCarthy’s play calling “predictable” due to his tendency to heavy up on 11-personnel formations featuring one running back, one tight end and three receivers. However, she said that probably was unlikely considering many National Football League players are able to put surgery off until the end of the season on a torn meniscus if they can play through the injury.
Just how quickly AP can rebound from a torn meniscus is the big question. Jerick McKinnon will start on Sunday at defending NFC champion Carolina, and Matt Asiata has proven to be a capable backup. The Minnesota Vikings ground game is averaging 47.5 yards per contest, and Adrian Peterson leads the way with 50 yards on 31 carries. They got after us up front, I thought.
The Raiders have Latavius Murray in place as their No. 1 running back right now, but there are ongoing indications that status is tenuous.
“Obviously, when you see a guy go down like that any time, obviously your heart goes out to him and his family”.
“That’s one of the best atmospheres I’ve probably ever played in”, Bradford said. It would have been easy for the Vikings to fall apart, but instead Zimmer was able to win seven games with a franchise that had won only five the previous year. The initial word Sunday night was that Peterson had avoided a much more significant injury, and there was hope on Monday morning that damage to the 31-year-old’s knee was limited to cartilage, not ligaments. But numerous players said they’ll use that frustration as motivation.
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“We’ve been not quite finding our rhythm yet, but we’ve got some guys working in that haven’t worked together a whole lot”, said Rodgers, who went just 20-of-36 for 213 yards Sunday.
