Adrian Peterson Talks About His Season, Knee Injuries

Minnesota Vikings' all-world running back Adrian Peterson took some time out from practicing for the Pro Bowl to talk with a couple of folks from ESPN 1000 in Chicago about a few topics.

Being in Chicago, Waddle and Silvy (the hosts of the show) asked Peterson a couple of questions about his recovery from his knee injury, as one of Chicago's own sports stars. . .Bulls point guard Derrick Rose. . .still has not come back from a knee injury that he suffered during last season's NBA playoffs.

On advice he has for Derrick Rose, who is battling back from a similar knee injury:

"I haven't had an opportunity to talk to him. I was actually talking with some of his [representatives] to try to get in contact with him this week. But this last phase that he's going through right now, I'd tell him just to trust. Just have confidence and not be timid when he's out there doing his different drills to get himself back to where he was before. I think that was the most important thing for me is mentally trust that around this time the structure of the ligament is strong and durable."

On if Rose can get back to being an MVP-caliber player soon after returning:

"I think so. This is just me making that assumption based on the type of athlete that I see. I feel like, genetically, he's blessed. A lot of people heal differently, and I feel like he's one of those guys, when you just look at his body structure, that he'll be able to heal fast and his muscle memory is able to come back rather quickly than a normal person. I feel like if he really attacks it this last month and pushes himself and has that confidence - because that's what it's all about mentally, getting through it and having that confidence - then I feel like he'll be back to his old self, if not better than before."

Not to poo-poo Derrick Rose's injury or his ability to come back from it or anything like that. . .but if people are going to start using Adrian Peterson as the measuring stick for players coming back from serious knee injuries, there are going to be a lot of disappointed folks out there. There are a lot of great athletes in professional sports today, but Peterson is truly a freak of nature, and people shouldn't just expect other players to just be able to match his time table or his level of performance after he came back.

There were some other questions that centered around Peterson's perspective of the Chicago Bears, including the firing of coach Lovie Smith and the prospect of having played against Brian Urlacher for the last time. If you want to listen to the entire interview, you can hear it right here.