The Minnesota Vikings may keep Adrian Peterson out for the preseason after the running back suffered a mild thigh injury and that means Jerick McKinnon likely will start with Matt Asiata, Charles Johnson and Cordarrelle Patterson for Teddy Bridgewater when the Vikes take on the Oakland Raiders in Week 2 of the preseason.
Peterson was not expected to play at all in the preseason anyway and after suffering an injury in practice, it's likely that he will not feature for the Vikings. Peterson was out for nearly all of last season and while getting some reps could be good after a long layoff, head coach Mike Zimmer said he was not concerned about Peterson getting extra work. Zimmer said that Peterson has shown "no rust" in workouts and that he is prepared to take over again as the number one running back this season.
According to Pro Football Talk, Peterson was back in practice earlier this week after dealing with the calf issue and he is expected to be fine leading into the start of the season. Peterson was left to do individual drills and he sat out of the full team practice, but he was back and that is a good sign for the Vikings. The team likely will be cautious with Peterson anyway, as he is past 30 and coming back after nearly a year off. Jerick McKinnon and Matt Asiata should get the bulk of carries in the next preseason game.
Peterson has time to recover if the injury lingers, as the Vikings open the season against the 49ers in September. Peterson comes in after rushing for just 75 yards last season, but in his last two full seasons Peterson rushed for 22 touchdowns and had seasons of 2097 and 1266 rushing yards. Peterson is still a productive player and the Vikings expect him to help Teddy Bridgewater have another strong season after Bridgewater came in as a rookie last year.
McKinnon and Asiata had to handle things with Peterson out last season and both players put up solid numbers after the unexpected loss of Peterson. McKinnon is expected to be the second running back on the depth chart and he comes in after rushing for 538 yards last season and adding 27 catches for 135 yards out of the backfield in 11 games. McKinnon put up a solid 4.8 yards per carry and he could get some work behind Peterson this season.
Last season Bridgewater played in 13 games and had 14 touchdowns with 12 interceptions while completing over 60 percent of his passes. Bridgewater has a new weapon in Mike Wallace and his addition in a trade could be huge for the team. Wallace is going to help take pressure off of Cordarrelle Patterson, who has dealt with some struggles, and his addition could help open things up for Charles Johnson. Last season Johnson had a solid season with 31 catches in 11 games and he expected to get more targets this season.