The Minnesota Vikings are opening training camp soon and Adrian Peterson is expected to be the starter over Jerick McKinnon for Mike Zimmer, but in the preseason the running back could be held out after missing all of last season and this comes after the team added Mike Wallace for quarterback Teddy Bridgewater in the offseason.
The Vikings are happy that the Peterson situation is mostly resolved coming into training camp, as the running back did not appear to be pleased with his contract this offseason. All of that appears to be in the past now and Peterson comes into camp after looking impressive in offseason workouts. Head coach Mike Zimmer said to the press that Peterson had "no rust" on him in minicamp and that he should be able to take over as the starter again without any issues.
The Vikings may want to limit Petertson's action during the summer though, as he missed all of last season and is now 30 years old. Most running backs start to break down at that age and this summer the team could keep Peterson out of preseason action, according to the St. Paul Pioneer Press. The report says that Norv Turner does not usually push his running backs hard in the preseason and Zimmer said that with Peterson having "carried the ball a lot" in his career, some rest may be the best thing before the season starts.
Peterson will be the lead back for the Vikings once again this season, but his absence last year allowed Jerick McKinnon and Matt Asiata to step up and they could continue getting carries. McKinnon and Asiata give the team depth and according to NFL.com, Vikings RBs coach Kirby Wilson said that the team will "monitor" the amount of snaps that Peterson gets. Wilson cited "wear and tear" as the main reason and that Peterson will benefit from the team looking at his snaps so he can stay fresh for a full season.
Wilson said Peterson was "extremely explosive" in offseason workouts and he should be fine getting between 200-300 carries this season. Peterson could end up on the low-200 end if he splits some time with McKinnon and it comes after he put up 348 carries and 279 carries in each of his last two full seasons. Peterson only played in one game last season and finished with 75 yards against the Rams. The Vikings head to training camp in a couple weeks since they are playing the Steelers in the Hall of Fame game.
Bridgewater comes in after a solid rookie season and he said in an interview in USA Today that the team has "high expectation" for this year. Bridgewater has new number one receiver in Mike Wallace and his addition in a trade should help take some pressure off Cordarrelle Patterson. Last season Patterson had a down year compared to his rookie season and Zimmer is hoping that Wallace coming in can open things up for the young wideout.
The Vikings showed some improvements last season and nearly made the playoffs without Petertson. Now the team gets AP back and Bridgewater in year two and they could make some noise in the North.