Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson is dealing with a tragic situation regarding his 2-year-old son, who was beaten by his mother's boyfriend and is on life support, but the star said that he will be playing and will start on Sunday against the Carolina Panthers at home for Week 6.
Peterson released a statement and said that he will "without a doubt" be playing on Sunday against the Panthers despite what happened and that he will be in the starting lineup. Peterson has over 400 rushing yards this season and is ranked third in that category while his rush yards per game is best in the league, as is his total of five rushing touchdowns and he will continue that strong play on Sunday despite the tragic situation.
Reports first emerged no Thursday that Peterson was in Sioux City in South Dakota to deal with a "personal" matter and as news started to emerge, it was found out that his 2-year-old son was beaten and was critically injured by the man who is the boyfriend of the boy's mother. The child was born to the mother and was not publically known, with reports saying Peterson and the woman did not have much contact after they moved away.
The child is in critical condition and the man has been arrested and Deadspin.com reports that he likely will not last the night and will be taken off life support. While fantasy football seems trivial during a situation like this, Peterson is still a very good start on Sunday, especially with the Panthers struggling after losing to the Cardinals last week.
Peterson is coming off of his best game of the season before the Vikings bye last week, as he rushed for 140 yards and two touchdowns against the Steelers in London. Peterson broke off a 60-yard run against the Steelers and averaged over six yards per carry on 23 attempts with a season-high 140 on the ground. Peterson had 88 yards in the previous game and that was his lowest total of the season so far.
Peterson is averaging a nice amount of yards for fantasy owners and he has gone over 100 yards twice while scoring in three of four games. He rushed for 93 yards and two touchdowns against the Lions and now he will start against the Panthers in Week 6.