Over the past few weeks, the Minnesota Vikings have been riding the success of rookie Stefon Diggs. The wide receiver has been a breakout star in 2015 for the team as he went from a bench rider to a starter very quickly. However, Week 9 could be a little different for Diggs as he missed practice for a hamstring injury. With a lengthy injury list over his career, could Diggs be slowed down for the first time this season?
According to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, Diggs was not at practice due to a hamstring injury that may or may not be lingering for the receiver. One of the knocks Diggs had against him entering the NFL Draft was his durability. That was a reason why the receiver slid to the fifth round which ended up greatly benefitting the Vikings. This is his first time on the injury list which could end up being a cause for concern for the team moving forward.
If Diggs were to be limited in the matchup on Sunday, the Vikings certainly have other receiving options. Diggs replaced Charles Johnson and Jarius Wright when they were injured. If Diggs were to miss time or even just be limited, they would move back to their original roles while Mike Wallace operates as the leader. It would not hurt Teddy Bridgewater too much.
A good bit of news for the Vikings is that Adrian Peterson is officially off the injury list, not that it was hurting his production on the field. Peterson and Diggs have been the main reason the Vikings have become contenders this season as they have been moving the offense into a better direction. According to Peterson, despite being a running back, he believes he can play until he is 40 or later.
"I think if I'm blessed to play [that long], I'll get a feel. I think I'll go off my gut feel," Peterson said, via ESPN.com. "I think I can play for a long time, but I'm just going to take it one year at a time and see how I feel, because I did enjoy myself, realizing how much I was missing, as far as my kids."
The NFL life of a running back is traditionally short. Peterson has done his best to defy that idea as the running back has 633 yards on 140 carries through seven games at the age of 30. With that normally being the kiss of death age for running backs in the NFL, Peterson is changing the trend and the Vikings are benefitting from it as a result.