Preseason is finally about to kick off in the NFL and the Vikings will be facing their first opponent on Friday, the San Francisco 49ers.
It being the first game of the preseason though, neither team is probably going to be showing all that much to the other in terms of first team snaps or delving deep into the playbooks. Part of the reason for that is that they'll be waiting to keep the players fresh, and Adrian Peterson will be missing the game anyway as he continues to rehab from his ACL tear he suffered in the last game of last season.
Another part of it will be simple gamesmanship, as the two teams know they'll be seeing each other again very soon:
"Yeah, especially when we play these suckers early," Musgrave said Tuesday. "We have them in the third game so that's definitely a factor when we talk about what we're going to show, what we're going to work on, and what we could care less about."
That isn't to say that the players won't be out there working as hard as always -- it will be the first actual football against an opponent in quite some time, always exciting for the players after a long and arduous training camp -- but if you tune in on Friday to see Christian Ponder and the first string defense play for two quarters you're likely to be disappointed.
For more Vikings news and analysis as well as the latest news on Adrian Peterson, be sure to visit Daily Norseman. Head over to SB Nation's Minnesota's Training Camp StoryStream for more training camp coverage. Also make sure to check out SB Nation's NFL hub for more football news.