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UPDATE: Numerous sources are confirming that it is, indeed, a tear of both the ACL and the MCL.
How bad is the diagnosis on Adrian Peterson's left knee? Well, that all depends on who you ask, it would appear, as we've gotten two different reports on Twitter in the past couple of minutes.
First, the "official" report from Jon Ekstrom, a member of the Minnesota Vikings' public relations staff:
@JonEkstrom
Jon Ekstrom An MRI this evening revealed that Vikings running back Adrian Peterson suffered a tear to his anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee.
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And now, the "unofficial" word from 1500 ESPN's Tom Pelissero.
@TomPelissero
Tom Pelissero Per an NFL source, an MRI has confirmed #Vikings RB Adrian Peterson has a torn ACL and MCL.
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So, Adrian Peterson has a torn ACL for sure, and quite possibly a torn MCL, if the reports are accurate (and I've got no reason to believe they're not). According to Pelissero, he did NOT turn the PCL, so he didn't hit the Daunte Culpepper trifecta, but it's still not good.
One has to seriously wonder at this point if Peterson is going to be ready for the 2012 season. At this point, I have my doubts.