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Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson is "extremely hungry" to play after returning to practice this week. The 31-year-old Peterson was feeling positive Thursday after his first two practices, starting the 21-day window for the team to activate him from injured reserve.
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Peterson cautioned he wants to balance his enthusiasm with the reality that he had surgery to repair a torn meniscus on Sept. 22. He has been on IR since suffering the right knee injury during the win over the Green Bay Packers in Week 2 on Sept. 18.
"The injury is a four- to six-month injury," Peterson said Thursday, via the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. "In my mind, I'm telling myself that it's 100 percent healed. But I really won't know until I look and see it in images (from medical testing). With that, you've got to be smart about how you approach everything going ahead.
"I'm extremely hungry to get out there and help these guys win."
Peterson said earlier in the week he was hoping of being able to play the next week on Christmas Eve against the Packers at Lambeau Field.
"(Returning Dec. 24) was the goal I had set," Peterson said. "I'm just going to continue to take it one day at a time, and when that time comes as a group we'll sit down and talk and see which direction is best to go in."
Coach Mike Zimmer said the Vikings still have plenty to determine before deciding whether Peterson will be activated from injured reserve.
"We'll have to see where he's at in conditioning. There's so many things to figure out," Zimmer said Thursday. "I think he's in pretty good shape, but he hasn't sat in meetings for three months. There's a lot of things to consider.
"I wouldn't say it was his decision. I would say it's a combination. We'll sit down and talk, and the medical people (will weigh in). It's a lot to do with the medical."
