The Minnesota Vikings placed RB Adrian Peterson on injured reserve, one day after the 2015 National Football League rushing champion had surgery to fix a torn lateral meniscus in his right knee.
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McKinnon has just three rushes for eight yards so far this season, but he rushed for 271 yards and two touchdowns on 5.2 yards per carry in 2015 to go along with 21 receptions for 173 yards and one touchdown as a backup.
Minnesota coach Mike Zimmer might address Peterson’s surgery later Thursday. “Nobody is going to feel sorry for you”, defensive end Brian Robison said, via the Minnesota Star Tribune. “It could be season ending”. Could be season ending, could be three, four weeks, I don’t know. He suffered a torn ACL in his left knee at the end of the 2011 season and returned to have a 2,000-yard rushing season in 2012.
It increases the degree of difficulty, yes, but in Zimmer’s mind, the Vikings’ task isn’t impossible. Peterson left with 3:32 to play in the third quarter. “We’re not going to change and go to like five-wide’s every play”.
The Vikings’ opponents have been selling out to stop the run this season, limiting Peterson’s production.
That’s a matter for another day, though. “I honestly didn’t have a lot of time to do a lot of running back evaluations yesterday”.
“We can’t control what happens to another player”, said Cordarrelle Patterson, a Vikings receiver.
McKinnon, Matt Asiata and Ronnie Hillman, signed to a contract Wednesday, form the team’s new stable of running backs.
“I haven’t been here long, but I think we’ve got a great group of running backs, ” quarterback Sam Bradford said.
“I think you can use those guys in a lot of different ways”, Bradford said. The Vikings already have $141 million in cap commitments for 2017, and could be in the market for a left tackle if they don’t have an adequate replacement on their roster for Matt Kalil, who was placed on injured reserve Wednesday with a hip ailment.
Green Bay’s strategy on Sunday was to take Peterson out of the game and put it all on Bradford’s shoulders. Second-year tackle T.J. Clemmings, who appeared in all 16 games a season ago, will take Kalil’s place.
Minnesota Vikings coach Mike Zimmer has said at various points during the past 2½ years that he enjoys proving people wrong.
The Vikings haven’t given up on their chase for a championship, though.
“They’re resilient. They’re tough”. “It depends on if the (doctor) has to fix it or mend it”. I know everybody is all concerned about we don’t have this or we don’t have that, but it’s a team. Obviously we’ve had a few setbacks. “So we’re going to keep plugging away and keep doing our very best to find a way to win”.
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Through two games, Peterson has had difficulty finding running room behind the Vikings offensive line. He needed help getting off the field and crutches to exit U.S. Bank Stadium.
