2012 could already be a problem for AP. (Getty Images)

By Will Brinson

On Saturday, Vikings running back Adrian Peterson suffered an absolutely horrific injury. On Monday, trainer Eric Sugarman announced that Peterson tore his ACL, MCL and both the media and lateral meniscus in his left knee, will require surgery soon and is expected to miss eight to nine months of time doing rehab and recovery.

Per our Vikings Rapid Reporter Joe Oberle, that "leaves his PCL, LCL and chondral surface of his knee non-injured."

"Basically our goal now with Adrian is restore his range of motion, decrease the swelling and keep his quadriceps strong in order to prepare him for surgery, which is going to probably be in the next 7-10 days," Sugarman said. "We expect most people to recover from this injury in 8-9 months and instead of comparing Adrian to any other player at any level that has ever had an anterior cruciate ligament, and they happen every day, I really would like Adrian to stand on his own merit."

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Therefore, it's quite possible the beginning of next year could be in danger for Peterson as well. Sports Illustrated's Peter King spoke to Vikings coach Leslie Frazier on Sunday and, while the coach is optimistic, reading between the lines makes it pretty clear that Peterson won't come into 2012 fully healthy.

"Wes Welker's rare," Frazier told King. "But I talked to Adrian on the plane on the way home last night. He's down, of course. But he will attack his rehab viciously. He is such a strong-minded guy. We won't know everything about the damage until the surgery is done, but we think if everything goes perfectly, Adrian will be back to play at the start of next season.

"I think he'll turn out to be one of those case studies people look at when they want to see how a guy rehabbed to come back strong."

First, let me point out that I actually kind of agree with Frazier here: Peterson is a beast, and if there was one person in the NFL who needed to work hard enough to beat a medical timeline, Peterson is that guy. Additionally, he's returned from a major injury (a broken collarbone he suffered while diving into the end zone in college) before and dominated after it.

But that doesn't mean that Frazier should get off light simply because Peterson is a physical freak of nature. As noted in "Sorting the Sunday Pile," the Vikings have been running out banged-up players in games that don't matter all year and now it's could cost Frazier in a big way when it comes to the success in his second year as Vikings coach.

My colleague Charley Casserly agreed too, pointing out that someone with the Vikings should have "dragged out" Peterson's rehab for the rest of the season to make sure he was healthy heading into the offseason.

There was simply no need for AP to be on the field during a meaningless game at the end of a lost season. And as a result, it's possible it could cost the Vikings well into the next season.


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