Minnesota Vikings Adrian Peterson Will Start Sunday Despite Injury

It looks like backup running back Toby Gerhart will have to take knee this Sunday because according to starting running back Adrian Peterson he will be playing this week at Green Bay.

Nov 17, 2013; Seattle, WA, USA; Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson (28) rushes against the Seattle Seahawks during the first quarter at CenturyLink Field. Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports

Even though he was clearly was slowed down by the injury in last week’s 41-20 loss at Seattle, rushing for just 65 yards on 20 carries, and he has not practiced at all this week. Taking any time off rest is just not an option.

“Not at all,” Peterson said Thursday. “I don’t think it’s that severe, you know. Just rest and do the necessary things with treatment and I’ll be OK.”

He, and many fans, are clinging to the splinted thread chance the Vikings could magically pull off six straight wins and somehow sneak into the postseason.

“I don’t know how you all think, but I still think we’ve got a chance,” he told reporters. “Call me crazy, but I still feel like we have an opportunity. That’s the way I’m going to approach this week and the rest of the season.”

He said we could call him crazy him right? Nonetheless Peterson feels that the Minnesota Vikings can avoid falling further and further behind this season.

“The competition level, you know? A lot of games we have lost at the end of the game, the last minute of the fourth quarter,” he said. “We’ve done different things to put ourselves against the wall. I think that has something to do with the mind-set that we have because guys realize we had kind of gave a lot of games away. You don’t want to do that, but it is what it is.

“With that, guys are still fighting. Guys are still practicing hard. Guys are still believing, and that’s something that I sense that I didn’t sense back then. We still have that now. And that’s all we can ask for being 2-8.”

After rushing for 2,097 yards and being voted the NFL’s most valuable player in 2012, Peterson is on pace for 1,361 yards, which would be his lowest total over a full season since entering the league in 2007.

The groin injury is hampering Peterson’s acceleration and ability to run through tackles. And managing the injury is now the team’s top priority. Coach Leslie Frazier said he would like to see Peterson practice Friday.

“Hopefully, we can get him some work. That would help with his confidence as well as ours,” Frazier said after Thursday’s workout.

Gerhart ran seven times for 67 yards against the Seahawks, and if ready to go if Peterson can’t work through the pain.

Asked how he’d feel if asked to sit this one out, Peterson said, “I’d look at them crazy. I’d be like, ‘Well, I know my body and I’m not going to do anything to hurt myself. Just trust me.’ “