Leslie Frazier: Vikings will 'tread lightly' with Adrian Peterson

Peterson and his team will ‘tread lightly' as he recovers from a torn ACL and MCL.

Even when Vikings coach Leslie Frazier travels halfway around the world, he can't get away from questions about the health of Adrian Peterson.

As he flies off with former coaches Eric Mangini and our CBS colleague Bill Cowher on a USO tour in the Persian Gulf, the welcoming soldiers, perhaps worrying about the health of their fantasy football teams, have been asking about Peterson's recovery from a torn MCL and ACL.

"He was looking good when we left," Frazier told USA Today. "He's right on course with what the doctors and trainers have asked him to do. We'll rely on what the doctors and trainers tell me and what we see as to when to put him back in uniform and get him involved."

So, um, what does that mean (and I'm asking on behalf of all the soldiers who couldn't get a straight answer from Frazier)?

"He's so valuable to our organization that we have to be smart,” Frazier said. “We'll tread lightly as far as Week 1, and how much he'll contribute on the field. Even when we get to training camp, he's going to be chomping at the bit, but we'll have to be smart."

Sounds like he already is. In May, Peterson was reportedly outrunning some of his teammates (remember, this was about five months after a major knee injury), and about seven weeks ago, Peterson said he'd be very surprised if he wasn't playing by Week 1.

But as you'll recall, Frazier has been touting for a while the company line of not rushing Peterson back too fast.

“Ideally, we'd love to have him back opening day," Frazier said in March. "That's what we're aiming for, that's what he wants to see happen, that's what we'd all love to see happen. But at the same time we'll have to be smart and just see where he is.”

After all, Peterson rushed back from an injury too soon last year, and we all saw what happened (and if not, just look at the picture atop this story to refresh your memory).

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