Peterson, 31, was injured in Sunday night’s victory over Green Bay.
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Less than one hour after the news that Adrian Peterson will undergo surgery Thursday to fix his right torn meniscus – a procedure that could signal the end of his Vikings career – Minnesota placed left tackle Matt Kalil on injured reserve with a hip injury that will nearly certainly end the former No. 3 overall pick’s run with the club.
ESPN’s Josina Anderson goes on to report that Peterson has what’s being called a “bucket tear” in the knee, an injury that usually requires three-to-six months of recovery time.
Peterson slightly twisted his knee at the end of a 5-yard run Sunday against the Packers.
If Peterson were unable to play against the Carolina Panthers on Sunday, the Vikings could turn to Matt Asiata and Jerick McKinnon, who combined to run for 1,108 yards in 2014 while Peterson missed 15 games because of National Football League discipline. His right foot seemed to stick under the leg of Kyler Fackrell as the Packers linebacker tackled him to the ground.
He was later seen using crutches with a large black brace around the knee.
Through two games, Peterson has 50 yards rushing on 31 carriers and no touchdowns.
Peterson suffered a torn ACL and MCL in his right knee late in the 2011 season, but returned the following year to rush for a career-high 2,097 yards.
Zimmer said the Vikings must have a next-man-up mentality to overcome the losses of Peterson and Kalil. A team can elect to bring a player back off of injured reserve if they want, but if both Kalil and Peterson wind up on injured reserve, the team can only bring back one of them.
“This team, to me, is resilient”, Zimmer told reporters. The Vikings, though, are 2-0 and in sole possession of first place in the NFC North.
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If the injury is severe, it could mean Peterson would miss 3 to 4 months, which would put him out for the rest of the season, or the vast majority of the season. “So we’re going to keep plugging away”.
