Adrian Peterson Trial Tentatively Set For December 1

It appears that Minnesota Vikings' running back Adrian Peterson will be going to trial on charges of causing injury to a child much earlier than originally anticipated.

A judge in Montgomery County, Texas has set a trial date of 1 December after Peterson's attorney, Rusty Hardin, pushed for a speedy trial. Peterson was set to plead "not guilty" to the charges, but the judge never asked for a plea. Many thought that a trial could be anywhere from nine to twelve months away, but apparently Hardin was persuasive enough to get things pushed up.

In any event, it's still pretty unlikely that Peterson will play for the Vikings (or anyone else) this season. With Peterson on the Commissioner's Exempt list until such time as Roger Goodell decides he can come back, it almost certainly wouldn't happen before the 1 December trial date. After that?

Well, one would assume that if Peterson was found not guilty of the charges in front of him, the league would allow him back onto the Vikings roster (if the Vikings wanted to take that route). If he were to be found guilty, the NFL would likely take some sort of further action against him, even if he were to only receive some form of probation as a first-time offender.

It appears that the trial of Adrian Peterson will be concluded before the 2014 NFL season is, which means we could be setting up for an off-season of "What are the Vikings going to do with Adrian Peterson?"

Looking forward to it. Really. (Not really.)