Timetable For Peterson's Return Is Crazy. . .For Anyone Else

by Christopher Gates on Dec 26, 2011 8:21 PM CST in Minnesota Vikings 2011 Season

As you may have seen earlier, the Minnesota Vikings held their standard post-game press conference this afternoon at Winter Park, and the topic du jour was, obviously, the status of running back Adrian Peterson, who tore the ACL and MCL in his left knee in Minnesota's 33-26 victory over the Washington Redskins on Saturday afternoon.

The first person to the podium was Certified Athletic Trainer Eric Sugarman (™ Paul Allen), and he said that the surgery on Peterson's knee would take place in seven to ten days, and that they expected that he would be ready in eight to nine months. Eight months would put the calendar at late August/early September, which would be right around the time of the 2012 season opener.

Now, for a lot of people, that would probably be insane. But, as Ted pointed out in some of the comments earlier, if there's one player that's capable of it, it's Adrian Peterson. And if there's one training staff that can make it happen, it's the Minnesota Vikings training staff.

Exhibit A - Cedric Griffin. Griffin tore the ACL in his knee on the overtime kickoff of the NFC Championship Game on 24 January 2010. He was back on the field for the Vikings in Week Three of the 2010 regular season on 26 September 2010. That's as close to eight months as you can get, really. And keep in mind, Griffin was pretty good after he came back. . .you know, until he tore the other ACL a couple of weeks later. That's the one that's really screwed him over, from everything I can see.

Exhibit B - E.J. Henderson. On 6 December 2009, Henderson suffered one of the nastiest injuries that you'll ever see when he broke his femur against the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday Night Football. A broken femur is generally an injury that people suffer when they're in serious car wrecks, not playing football. It was wondered whether Henderson would play again at all, never mind be effective in any way.

Well, let me remind you of exactly what happened.

The Vikings' medical and training staff have presented Henderson's groundbreaking case, and the rehab program, both locally and nationally. It has been written up in medical journals and is being studied for future reference, providing a road map for how to deal with such an injury.

And they've given it a nickname -- the Henderson Protocol.

"That's our joke, but I think that's what it is," Sugarman said. "I challenge anyone to top it. I think the medical staff in general, we're pretty proud of this. It's a remarkable comeback."

Yep, Eric Sugarman and company had E.J. Henderson back on the field for the second week of the pre-season. That game against the San Francisco 49ers took place on 22 August 2010. These people have a rehabilitation program named for their work, for crying out loud.

So, if Eric Sugarman says that he can have Adrian Peterson ready to go by Week One of the 2012 NFL season. . .well, by God, I'm inclined to believe him. I sure as hell won't bet against it, that's for sure.

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Shaun Livingston for the Clippers suffered a similar injury.

Some players actually recover from ACL/MCL injuries, and their legs are they were before, due to the strengthened knee. Doubt that’s the case with Peterson, though, as he can only get so much better… and I’m sure his knee was plenty strong to begin with. I remember seeing him in person a few years ago… dude is a freak of nature. Anyways, best of luck to Peterson on his recovery. And that’s some pretty cool info on your trainers.

14-1
Back on track to Super Bowl XLVI!
MattFlynn4StartingQB

by arodgb on Dec 26, 2011 9:33 PM CST reply actions

are better than they were before

Correction.

14-1
Back on track to Super Bowl XLVI!
MattFlynn4StartingQB

by arodgb on Dec 26, 2011 9:33 PM CST up reply actions

I hope.

I have a bunch of friends that are Packer fans and they were basically saying his career was done. I reminded them that this is after all Peterson and he is going to work his ass off to come back from this. I then reminded them of those exact two situations. Needless to say they changed their tune a bit after that.

"Arguing with anonymous strangers on the Internet is a sucker's game because they almost always turn out to be—or to be indistinguishable from—self-righteous sixteen-year-olds possessing infinite amounts of free time."
― Neal Stephenson, Cryptonomicon

by Thor82 on Dec 26, 2011 9:34 PM CST reply actions

Peterson's career being "done"

Is nothing more than a sick, disgusting fantasy concocted by certain individuals from the eastern banks of the St. Croix.

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by Christopher Gates on Dec 26, 2011 9:41 PM CST up reply actions 1 recs

Lesser backs have made full recovieries

Proclamations of the demise of Peterson’s career were uneducated and premature.

by Cobra312004 on Dec 26, 2011 10:15 PM CST up reply actions

If I were the Vikings

You go about this upcoming draft as if nothing is different. Toby has been looking good, and maybe see what Caleb King has to offer, and you prepare for the upcoming season as if AP WILL be back . Because he will. Might not be day one, and there is nothing wrong with seeing if there is a FA prospect out there, but AP is a fighter and this team needs to, by its actions, show AP that this team is ready to compete not IF he comes back, but WHEN he comes back.

Build up your weaknesses until they become your strong points." --Knute Rockne

by abba7 on Dec 26, 2011 9:52 PM CST reply actions

I wouldn't bet against Adrian Peterson being back in time for 2012

The man isn’t an elite athlete just because he won some genetic lottery, he works hard and is constantly looking for ways to improve and maintain an edge. Most likely, Eric Sugarman and his staff will have to hold Peterson back so he doesn’t over do it while his knee is mending.

Life being what it is, one dreams of revenge.
- Paul Gauguin

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by Skol Girl on Dec 26, 2011 10:04 PM CST reply actions 2 recs

+1

by Cobra312004 on Dec 26, 2011 10:16 PM CST up reply actions

Personally I think Leslie and his staff.....

……are about to make the biggest mistake of their careers, they are going to try to rush the recovery because they know their jobs are riding on a decent season next year.

It seems that everyone wants to jump on the bandwagon with this idea that AP is a medical miracle and that his DNA gives him quicker healing times. Sorry but with a franchise player they should be erring on the side of caution, which seems to have already been thrown out the window.

by Sixmark on Dec 26, 2011 11:42 PM CST up reply actions

I don't think anyone is going to rush his recovery. Today's press conference was just p.r.

And people want to read into the vague statements and recite it back as gospel truth. The fact is he hasn’t even had surgery yet, so nobody really knows what the condition of the injury actually is, or how well the surgery went. I hope for the best, but it’s very clear in Sugarman’s comments that he was not giving any definative predictions. He was stating the best case scenerio for a timeframe.

But I agree that, if they try to rush him back too early, I think that would be really stupid.
People jump on the “DNA bandwagon” because they need to feel better themselves.

well then who the hell are you talkin' to...are you talkin' to me?

by krinkle on Dec 27, 2011 12:02 AM CST up reply actions

I tore my ACL and Meniscus in college,

And had the surgeon (Chris Larson MD) that was the Vikings team doctor at the time. Was back playing ultimate frisbee and flag football (low contact sports, but still) at 4 months post-op with running in straight lines fine, along with tentative cutting and jumping. I was back to fully competitive track and field at about 8 months. And I ran hurdles and triple jumped so that put a TON of stress on the knees. Considering that they have a better surgeon now than they did then, and that Peterson is at least 100 times the athlete I am, he’ll be just fine in that amount of time.

http://www.tcomn.com/DoctorBio.cfm/pid:455/Christopher_M._Larson_M.D./

Theres the link for the old team doctor if anyone cares or it gives some value/credibility to my story.

by Brolaf on Dec 26, 2011 10:40 PM CST reply actions

I would start him off on the PUP list

That means he does not come back until week 6.

No way do I let him play after only 8 months recovery and thats if he has the surgery before Jan 8th. He will not have practiced much or played in the preseason games at all.

The Vikings have a significant financial investment to consider and rushing him back is extremely foolish. I would not care if he said he felt great and looked good running. Until he practices a few weeks and takes some hits in practice, then I would not put him in a game.

If the Vikings are competitive and look like they could get a playoff spot, then I would put him in some games. I really would hope that he does not see the field at all next year unless the Vikings are in the playoff hunt.

I would let him go all the way through October and well into November before I considered playing him. That would be 10 full months of recovery with at least two to four weeks of significant practice time.

by MarkSP18 on Dec 26, 2011 11:52 PM CST reply actions

terry allen ran

with dead peoples parts in his knees and lasted a while . and that was what 20 years ago. we have the technology we can make him faster stronger better than b4 the 100million dollar man . starring adrian peterson.

by skol viking on Dec 27, 2011 1:15 AM CST reply actions

I hope to God they don't rush him back.

Toby will be absolutely fine for them. Now maybe they can focus on their passing offense because as we all know, this is a passing league now. They get the passing offense into a nice groove until AP comes back ans who knows; if it’s good enough, it’ll make AP’s job a lot easier.

by christian220896 on Dec 27, 2011 8:23 AM CST reply actions

And*

by christian220896 on Dec 27, 2011 8:23 AM CST reply actions

Hope & pray

Obviously time will tell how Adrian comes back from the knee.
Maybe we’ll see some schematic changes to the run game as well. With battering RAM Gerhart taking snaps between the tackles and AP running sweeps and screens.

I’ve wondered for a couple years why they do not utilize the old pro-set backfield and run left and right to get those eight and nine men in the box moving laterally. Seems that this type of movement would accomodate APs cut-back skills well. The added plus is to run the legs off the defense by the middle of the third quarter.

At the very least, IMO, it would always place a blocked directly ahead of Adrian, which can’t hurt.

by Lars in SLP on Dec 27, 2011 9:00 AM CST via mobile reply actions

blocker

Correction.

by Lars in SLP on Dec 27, 2011 9:01 AM CST via mobile up reply actions

The Terminator...

was completely melted down at the end of T2 and was as good as new in T3. If a futuristic syborg can make a recovery, AP will be back and better than ever!!!

by LoveHate on Dec 27, 2011 9:16 AM CST reply actions

Same model but a different serial #

by Jshore on Dec 27, 2011 10:51 AM CST up reply actions

AP never should have been out there

Stupid Vikings always being stupid about everything because they’re so stupid.

They quit when they shouldn’t (Denny Green) and they push it when they shouldn’t.

It’s unbelievable! The one time it actually would’ve helped them if they lost and they push their most valuable player to get back on the field for ZERO reason.

AP should have been relaxing and now he has a year of rehab.

PS – Like a lot of others, I tore my ACL and MCL playing football. It took me 10 months to get back to playing and I am a short, out of shape, lazy bastard. I’m pretty sure AP can do it in 8 months.

by Darren From The Bronx on Dec 27, 2011 10:33 AM CST reply actions

Telling a healthy AP he isn't going to play because of next year

Is basically the same scene from Braveheart where the try to cauterize the arrow wound in Hamish’s father.

Here, you do it, I’ll hold him down.

In all sincerity thought, telling your team to throw in the towel and stick up the white flag in the NFL is tantamount to signing your own resignation letter. You can’t play timid or scared because there are several other guys waiting to take your job.

by Jepp The Viking on Dec 27, 2011 10:40 AM CST up reply actions

There is no "Throw in the Towel"...

Only “Let’s see what we have with our young guns”.

Why wouldn’t you want to play your backups more in a situation like we are in? See what you have on the field and give yourself a leg up on who is going to be effective and who isn’t.

You put your 2nd stringers out there and run the normal game plan and see if you can win.

by Bjorno on Dec 27, 2011 11:52 AM CST up reply actions

AKA throw in the towel.

by Jepp The Viking on Dec 27, 2011 12:09 PM CST up reply actions

exactly

by vikesfan4lyf on Dec 27, 2011 1:06 PM CST up reply actions

I think you have a head coach with enough balls, the players can bitch all they want but he is in control. Again, maybe if AP wasn’t coming back from a pretty bad injury it would have been much harder to sit him, but the fact is, Frazier had an excuse ready to go. We’re gonna give him one more week to heal before send him out there. A

nd if anything, the GM and the owner would respect Frazier’s decision to protect their investment, even though it would be to the detriment of Frazier’s record. I think they would love that . It’s not like the fan base is going to be fooled into thinking the extra win makes up for an atrocious year.

by Darren From The Bronx on Dec 27, 2011 10:59 AM CST reply actions

Except we don't have a GM

The Vikes use “Leadership by Committee”.

There is, literally, no ONE in charge.

by Lars in SLP on Dec 27, 2011 11:06 AM CST via mobile up reply actions

I was wondering why

I couldn’t remember who the Vikings’ GM was!

What a mess.

by Darren From The Bronx on Dec 27, 2011 11:17 AM CST up reply actions

Personally, I don't think it would be prudent to rush him back.

All this talk of him being ready for the season opener or first few games is a nice thought, but do we really want to rush him back and risk further injury?

We all know from experience that even though we had Ced back on the field quickly, he likely favored the other leg which made it more prone to injury. Then guess what happened?

Same thing happens with a lot of knee injuries, look at Chris Cook. Tore one meniscus, then favored the other leg and tore the other.

I would wait until we get a good look at the schedule, find out whether or not we will need him early in the season and if the schedule is weak, we wait until there is a need to break the glass in case of emergency.

Patience.

by Bjorno on Dec 27, 2011 11:49 AM CST reply actions

Sugarman's History

I don’t know that I would point to EJ Henderson and Cedric Griffin recoveries as good things when trying to defend Sugarman. Let’s not forget that Henderson has, essentially, been a shell of his former self since the leg injury. He came back year in a limited role and we all assumed he’d be back to form this year, well, he wasn’t. Cedric Griffin made what was at the time, a somewhat miraculous recovery last year, only to bust his other knee. The reasons for that may never be known, but it does raise the question, was he rushed back too soon? This year, Griffin has looked like a shell of his former, former self.

I wouldn’t be so quick to hang my hat on Sugarman. My fear is that they foolishly rush AP back too soon next season to save their jobs and end up ruining him for good. I agree with MarkSP18, I’d like to see him return when he’s fully healthy, like in November of 2012, or even in 2013.

Ponder. Peterson. Percy. Purple Perfection.

by CCNorsemen on Dec 27, 2011 5:16 PM CST reply actions

Oh yeah, and with our 2012 opponent's released...

We have no shot at the playoffs anyway. We’re a 5-win team at best next year anyway as we’re still in rebuild mode. Let AP return in 2013 after another successful draft/FA and let’s see what we’ve got then.

Ponder. Peterson. Percy. Purple Perfection.

by CCNorsemen on Dec 27, 2011 5:17 PM CST up reply actions