On Wednesday afternoon, the Minnesota Vikings and star running back Adrian Peterson held a rehab press conference to the surprise of many mainstream media outlets. Everyone had already assumed that Peterson, who sustained a ACL tear in the final game of the 2011-12 season was hopefully to shoot for the opening day of the 2012-13 season making another press conference unnecessary.
However, there was good reason for the gathering; Peterson elected to run drills for the media prior to taking questions.
Well, now we know why they're doing this Adrian Peterson presser. He's gonna do drills in front of us. This should be good. #Vikings
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) May 9, 2012
During the course of his workout, Peterson worked on his lateral movement as well as running drills. For the first part of his workout (the lateral motion portion), he wore a knee brace prior to removing it for the second half of the workout (the running drills).
Here's a clip from the lateral portion of the workout (courtesy of Tom Pelissero):
Here is a clip from the running portion of the workout:
In terms of when Peterson is expected to return, that is still up for question. Peterson was quoted as saying that he is at 50% in terms of cutting and explosiveness. The Vikings head athletic trainer, Eric Sugarman said that everyone involved remains optimistic about a return on opening day, which as of Wednesday was four months away and that the decision will be made by the group (meaning Peterson, the athletic staff and the front office).
Peterson expects to be available for day one of the season:
Peterson says he'd be "very surprised" if he doesn't play in first game. Says he's been smart about the process, though.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) May 9, 2012
For more on Adrian Peterson and the Minnesota Vikings, check out The Daily Norseman. More news and analysis on the NFL in general can be found at SB Nation's NFL hub.