Minnesota Vikings running back
Adrian Peterson will have surgery today to repair two torn
ligaments in his left knee, six days after he was injured in a
win against the Washington Redskins.

Peterson, 26, who is in his fifth season with the Vikings,
was selected for the Pro Bowl in each of his first four National
Football League seasons. He finished this season with 970 yards
rushing, after running for at least 1,298 yards in each
preceding season.

Peterson was placed on injured reserve on Dec. 26, two days
after tearing the anterior cruciate and medial collateral
ligaments in his left knee. Vikings trainer Eric Sugarman had
said the surgery would take place early in 2012.

“In this case, everything was in place to have the
surgery,” Vikings coach Leslie Frazier told reporters
yesterday. “He’s anxious to get his surgery done and get
started on his rehab.”

To contact the reporter on this story:
Rob Gloster in San Francisco at
rgloster@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Michael Sillup at
msillup@bloomberg.net

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Copyright 2011 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Running low on time today, i’ll be back tomorrow hopefully with some more news.

EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. (AP)—Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson
has scheduled surgery to repair his left knee.

Dr. James Andrews will perform the operation Friday in Alabama, six days
after Peterson tore the anterior cruciate and medial collateral ligaments in his
knee while being tackled in a game against the Washington Redskins.

Coach Leslie Frazier said Peterson will be back in Minnesota on Monday for
the team’s season-ending meetings. His rehabilitation work will be done in
Minnesota and his home state of Texas.

Peterson was on crutches Thursday when he entered the locker room, but he
didn’t speak to reporters. He finished the season with 970 yards and 12
touchdowns rushing in 12 games.

The Vikings have said they expect him to be ready for next year’s opener.

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Read More: Josh McCown (QB – CHI), Michael Strahan (DE – NYG), Jared Allen (DE – MIN), Jay Cutler (QB – CHI), Kahlil Bell (RB – CHI), Chicago Bears, Minnesota Vikings

The Minnesota Vikings are 3-12 and without star running back Adrian Peterson heading into Week 17, but the Chicago Bears have lost five games in a row and are left with Josh McCown and Kahlil Bell to lead the offensive unit. Neither team expected to be in this situation at the end of the season, but now it’s about who can make the best of it. Bell has been running hard for the Bears, and may be looking to make a statement against the Vikings, the team that cut him before he made his way to Chicago. Meanwhile, Jared Allen needs 4.5 sacks to surpsass the NFL single-season record set by Michael Strahan. There are still some interesting aspects to a game that has no bearing on the playoff picture.

The five-man panel at CBS Sports has released picks for Week 17, and three out of five experts expect the Bears to lose the season finale. Pete Prisco explained his prediction of a Bears in the following way:

The Bears season went right down the drain when Jay Cutler got hurt. What could have been? Now they are playing a meaningless division road game to close it. How motivated will they be? The Vikings are at home, which is why they are the pick — even without Adrian Peterson. Vikings 21, Bears 21.

It wouldn’t be the best thing for the Vikings in terms of 2012 NFL Draft position, but no doubt the players on the field would love to cap the season with a victory.

For more on the Chicago Bears, head over to Windy City Gridiron. Vikings news is always available at Daily Norseman. Stay tuned to SB Nation Chicago for more Chicago sports updates and breaking news.

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The Minnesota Vikings already lost one of their franchise players in a game where they were already eliminated from playoff contention when Adrian Peterson tore his ACL and MCL against the Washington Redskins on December 24, 2011. Should they take another chance with the man that they drafted with the 12^th-overall draft pick in the 2011 NFL Draft?

Christian Ponder is expected to start in Minnesota’s 2011-12 regular-season finale against the Chicago Bears on January 1, 2012. Doctors have cleared him to play as he has passed all the necessary tests following a concussion that he suffered against the Redskins. The injury occurred when Redskins linebacker London Fletcher put a powerful hit on Ponder when the game was tied 10-10.

Ponder admitted that this was the second concussion that he has had in his football career. The Vikings invested heavily in Ponder when they selected him with their 12^th pick. Ponder was the fourth quarterback taken after Cam Newton, Jake Locker and Blaine Gabbert.

I’m a bit surprised that the Vikings don’t err on the side of caution. Concussions can be unpredictable. It doesn’t help that Steve Hutchinson won’t be protecting him against a Bears’ defensive line that includes Henry Melton and Julius Peppers. Hutchinson was placed on injured reserve with his own head injury.

Ponder doesn’t need to rush back. Joe Webb has outperformed Ponder in his past two outings. Webb completed 4-of-5 passes for 84 yards and two touchdowns against the Redskins. He also had a rushing touchdown as he led the Vikings to a 33-26 victory after Ponder left the game. The Vikings were also trailing 21-0 to the Detroit Lions before Webb led them within a couple yards of a comeback. The Vikings eventually lost 34-28 after a facemask penalty went uncalled.

That doesn’t even include his performance against the Philadelphia Eagles last season. Webb outplayed Michael Vick while the Eagles were gunning for a first-round bye. The Vikings won 24-14.

Vikings head coach Leslie Frazier gave his support for Ponder as the starting quarterback. According to Frazier:

“I think you always want to do whatever is best for your team and whatever gives your team the best chance to win. Right now, Christian being our starting quarterback, that’s our belief.”

It’ll be interesting to see how the Vikings handle their quarterback situation heading into the 2012-13 season. The front office will obviously favor Ponder because of what they invested in him. However, it may be difficult to keep Webb benched if he continues to take advantage of these situations.

More from Yahoo! Contributor Network

NFL Injury Update: Minnesota Vikings’ Adrian Peterson Tears ACL and MCL

Don’t Count on the Green Bay Packers Resting Starters in Week 17: Fan’s Take

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Read More: Lorenzo Booker (RB – MIN), Toby Gerhart (RB – MIN), Jordan Todman (RB – MIN), San Diego Chargers, Chicago Bears, Minnesota Vikings

With star running back Adrian Peterson out for the season after tearing his ACL last week, the Minnesota Vikings have claimed running back Jordan Todman off of the San Diego Chargers’ practice squad to give them some extra depth at the position. He’s expected to be on the active roster as the Vikings finish off their season against the Chicago Bears on Sunday.

Todman was San Diego’s 2011 sixth-round pick out of Connecticut. A two-year starter with the Huskies, he was named Big East Offensive Player of the Year in 2010 after rushing for 1695 yards and 14 touchdowns as a junior. Todman hasn’t seen action in the NFL yet, as he’s spent his short professional career on San Diego’s practice squad.

With Peterson out against Chicago, Todman will likely be the third-string running back for the Vikings. Toby Gerhart should get the start for Minnesota while Lorenzo Booker will be the primary back-up. Both Chicago and Minnesota will be missing key players for this week’s game as neither team will be making the playoffs this season.

For more on the Chicago Bears, head over to Windy City Gridiron. And stay tuned to SB Nation Chicago for more Chicago sports updates and breaking news.

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Gotta run!.

The “same team, different face” routine continues for the Minnesota Vikings with only one week left until their disastrous 2011 season comes to an end.

A day after discovering that All-Pro running back Adrian Peterson has torn both the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and the medical collateral ligament (MCL) in his left knee, the Vikings have placed their offensive workhorse on the Injured Reserve list.

With such an awful diagnosis comes a dreadful timetable for Peterson’s recovery. The Vikings are optimistic that he will heal ahead of schedule, but it’s unlikely that he will be at full strength once the 2012 regular season gets under way. An injury of this magnitude usually takes anywhere from 8-9 months before the knee can be fully operational.

Peterson is expected to undergo surgery to repair the ligaments within the next 7-10 days.

Taking his place on the active roster as the Vikings’ third option at running back is rookie Caleb King. A former Georgia Bulldog who slipped through the cracks of the 2011 NFL Supplemental Draft, King has spent the entire 2011 regular season as part of the Vikings practice squad. With Peterson out, the Vikings needed a fresh set of legs to provide support to Toby Gerhart and Lorenzo Booker for their final game of the season. Considered a huge project at running back, it’ll be interesting to see whether or not the Vikings give King an opportunity to prove that he’s NFL-worthy when they take on the Chicago Bears this Sunday.

Also moving up from the practice squad is second-year tight end Mickey Shuler. Signed to the practice squad back in late-November, Shuler was originally a 2010 seventh-round draft pick of the Vikings before he was waived and picked up by the Miami Dolphins. While with the Dolphins last season, he played in six games (two starts) and hauled in two passes for 44 yards.

In order to make room for Shuler on the active roster, the Vikings have waived rookie tight end Allen Reisner. An undrafted rookie out of Iowa, Reisner has played in six games for the Vikings this season and caught one pass for five yards.

With only one game left on the agenda, the Vikings will be looking to give their young, unproven players opportunities to earn themselves a 2012 training camp spot. Look for both of these former practice squad members to have their names called at some point against the Bears.

As for Peterson, all the Vikings can do is hope that he returns next year as the same running back that terrorized the NFL for the past five years. If there’s any player-trainer duo that can get it done, it’s Peterson and Vikings head trainer Eric Sugarman.

Gil Alcaraz IV is a life-long follower of the Minnesota Vikings and the founder of TheVikingDen.com. For more Vikings/NFL coverage, follow him on Twitter or “like” The Viking Den on Facebook.

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Read More: adrian peterson injury, Adrian Peterson (RB – MIN), Mickey Shuler (TE – MIN), Allen Reisner (TE – MIN), Caleb King (RB – MIN), Minnesota Vikings

Adrian Peterson’s knee injury has landed the All-Pro running back on the injured reserve, effectively ending the season for the Minnesota Vikings running back. In a corresponding move, the Vikings signed Caleb King from the team’s practice squad.

Peterson’s season ended with a torn ACL, a torn ACL and further damage to his meniscus as well, and while his status for the beginning of next season could be in doubt, Peterson put forth a solid effort this season for a losing team. The fifth-year pro ran for 970 yards and 12 touchdowns in 12 games for the Vikings, overcoming a high ankle sprain before the knee injury took him out of action for good.

King has yet to make his NFL debut after being a player on the Vikings practice squad thus far this season, but the rookie running back carried the ball 80 times for 430 yards for the Georgia Bulldogs last season.

The Vikings also waived tight end Allen Reisner on Monday while promoting Mickey Shuler from the practice squad.

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If you’ve ever seen the movie Friday Night Lights when James “Boobie” Miles injures his knee after a defender tackles him from the side, then you know of the pain that Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson had to endure.

This past Saturday, during the Vikings’ game against the Washington Redskins, Peterson’s knee took a shot from the side a la Miles that made spectators everywhere cringe. As many of you know, knees aren’t supposed to go sideways. Well, Peterson’s did and it wasn’t pleasant to watch.

After suffering the injury, Peterson was helped off of the field before being carted to the locker room. It was immediately speculated on that he had torn his ACL and sure enough, he had.

“An MRI this evening revealed that Vikings running back Adrian Peterson suffered a tear to his anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee,” the team said in a statemen t released on Saturday night.

On Monday, Vikings head coach Leslie Frazier and team head trainer Eric Sugarman addressed the media regarding Peterson’s injury. According to Sugarman, Peterson not only tore his ACL but also his MCL.

“[Adrian] did tear the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee, also did tear the medical collateral ligament in that knee,” Sugarman confirmed.

Fortunately for Peterson and the Vikings, the posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) and lateral collateral ligament (LCL) did not sustain any damage. The last key Vikings player to pull off a trifecta (ACL, MCL, PCL) was quarterback Daunte Culpepper back in 2005. For those of you who weren’t around to witness that, Culpepper was never the same after his recovery and the Vikings haven’t had a quality quarterback since (don’t you dare bring up that old geezer from 2009).

The Vikings’ All-Pro running back will undergo surgery to repair the ligaments in the next 7-10 days, although the surgeon who will operate on Peterson has yet to be determined. Typically, this type of injury involves 8-9 months of rehab before the knee returns to full mobility. Following that guideline, it’s not expected that Peterson will be back in the lineup until the opening week of the 2012 NFL regular season.

Despite this extended timetable for recovery from what appeared to be a potential career-ending injury, Frazier and Sugarman are confident that Peterson will bounce back quicker and stronger than expected.

“He’ll be the guy that people look at and say, ‘Wow! Look at Adrian Peterson. He’s just as good or better than before the surgery,’” Frazier said. “Adrian will be back to play at the start of next season. I think he’ll turn out to be one of those case studies people look at when they want to see how a guy rehabbed to come back strong.”

According to Frazier, the Vikings will likely promote practice squad running back Caleb King to the active roster in response to Peterson’s injury. He will act as the third running back behind Toby Gerhart and Lorenzo Booker.

Don’t be blindfolded by the team’s optimism, though. Tearing both the ACL and MCL is a horrendous injury for any athlete to deal with, even an athlete as remarkable as Peterson. The recovery process is going to be a long one and no one can be sure whether or not we’ll ever see the same AP that gave defensive coordinators nightmares for the last five years. The only thing to do at this point is wait patiently in hopes that Peterson is back at it in 2012, wreaking havoc for the Vikings like so many have grown accustomed to.

For a team that’s had more than its fair share of setbacks this season, the Vikings couldn’t have imagined anything much worse than losing their prized possession to an injury of this magnitude.

Like the old saying goes: when it rains, it pours.

Gil Alcaraz IV is a life-long follower of the Minnesota Vikings and the founder of TheVikingDen.com. For more Vikings/NFL coverage, follow him on Twitter or “like” The Viking Den on Facebook.

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LANDOVER, Md. — In many ways, Christmas 2011 for the Minnesota Vikings should have been defined by an inspiring slogan, an 11-word adage delivered by Joe Webb from the postgame podium at FedEx Field.

“Stay prepared,” Webb said. “And when your opportunity comes, take advantage of it.”

In a perfect world, Webb’s words would have been the neat way for the Vikings to package their 33-26 victory over the Washington Redskins, as the backup quarterback sparked a second-half eruption with three touchdowns.

Yet Webb was only a small part of the story. The far more significant scene from an otherwise pleasant Christmas Eve came on the first play after halftime. That’s when Adrian Peterson took a handoff from Christian Ponder and was drilled in the left knee by Redskins safety DeJon Gomes.

Peterson’s left leg was planted at the time and had little give. Instead, it bent sideways and left the Vikings’ superstar face down on the grass writhing in agony.

A magnetic resonance imaging exam Saturday night confirmed Peterson suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament. That injury could keep Peterson from being available to the Vikings at the start of the 2012 season.

His first thoughts?

“Oh Lord,” Peterson said after the game, before he received the diagnosis. “I just knew something bad happened.”

Percy Harvin knew immediately Peterson was in trouble, promptly waving for the Vikings’ medical staff to rush out.

“You don’t ever want to see that,” Harvin said. “As soon as he went down, with the pain he was grimacing with, you know something was wrong. … I kind of (glanced at) his whole body, saw his leg and knew it was bad.”

Peterson seemed downright disconsolate as he stood on crutches and talked to reporters in the locker room after the game. Both he and the team were bracing for the worst. The Vikings said coach Leslie Frazier would give a further update on the injury Monday.

“Some people told me what they saw on TV and they said it looked pretty bad,” Frazier said immediately after the game. “I’m just hoping and praying it’s not what I’m being told.”

As if Peterson’s injury wasn’t bad enough, on the next play Ponder took a vicious shot to the head while being sacked by Adam Carriker and London Fletcher, producing concussion-like symptoms that ended the rookie quarterback’s day prematurely.

But this is where a woeful season – the Vikings (3-12) seemed to be in the hunt for the No. 1 overall draft choice if they lost their final two games and Indianapolis won next week – has its silver lining, however small it may be.

This was a lesson in patience, an uplifting moment for a 25-year-old reserve who seems to always respond when called upon.

(c)2011 the Star Tribune (Minneapolis) Visit the Star Tribune (Minneapolis) at www.startribune.com Distributed by MCT Information Services

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Gotta run!.

LANDOVER, Md. — Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson tore a ligament in his left knee Saturday after taking a direct hit in a 33-26 win over the Washington Redskins.

An MRI showed the anterior cruciate ligament tear after the team returned to Minnesota.

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