Good post, thanks. Hopefully AD takes the right rcovery path and he can heal up back to his old self.

Sucks for the man, but for the player and the Vikings, not the end of the world. For the speedy skinny receiver/dback types i think it takes the player down a notch but for a RB i don't see this as a career killer. There have been many RB's to recover just fine and the medical tech seems to improve every year besides.

Georges St. Pierre, the UFC World champion recently suffered the same exact injury and he is expected to make full recovery and return to the cage in less than a year. No one anticipates this will take his career down and this is sport where guys specifically try to take your legs out. Adrian is the same type of elite freakish athlete and is also bigger and stronger than GSP and has more mass. No doubt in my mind, full recovery.

The bright side to this is the Vikings are rebuilding and aren't on the verge of a SB or anything, and also that Toby has become a solid backup. So AD can take the time to fully recover and if he don't start again until October, this won't hurt the Vikings growth as a team. Awful news for the man, but all will be fine in the end.

Adrian's surgery will be in 7-10 days. Now they are just keeping the Quad strong and weighting for the swelling to go down. This from Fraziers Monday presser. They sounded pretty optimistic that Adrian will be ready for the 2012 regualr season.

I think AD will be fine and continue to his oldself once he gets healthy. The biggest thing AD will need is confidence in his left knee. If he doesnt have any confidence, he's gonna lose a step back.

Here's the latest from today's presser per 1500espn:

http://m.1500espn.com/pages/sportswire.php?sID=3765

My guess is it will be Dr. Steadman of Vail Colorado.

to add to the list of successes after acl tears:

tom brady is fine
roman harper had 94 and 102 tackles the 2 seasons after tearing his
gore had 1700 after tearing his
jerry rice tore his at 34 and had 3 1000+ yard seasons after
terry allen tore his acl in both knees, had 3 1000+ yard seasons

i could keep going, but the point is, while this is a tragedy for ap and the vikings, it hopefully will not be as bad as everyone thinks.

Well he went to the best and the surgery was successful.

I heard it takes 2 years to feel 100% comfortable mentally and physically after acl surgery.

True, for the average person who goes to rehab and does the minimum it takes to get back to walking. I.E. non-athletes. AD is a beast and will forget all about it.

Which could be a bad thing. Hopefully he doesn't push it too hard too early.

terrible news for the vikings

Adrian Peterson - RB - Vikings

Adrian Peterson (ACL, MCL, meniscus surgery) is scheduled to resume running on Feb. 28.
"I'm definitely making improvement. I'm starting to get my muscle tone and strength back into the legs," Peterson said Friday morning. "I'm happy with the progress I've made so far. I'm extremely happy."
Source: Scout.com

Reality check.


Tom Pelissero on Twitter

I'll do it.

Adrian Peterson - RB - Vikings

Coach Leslie Frazier indicated that "everybody was impressed" when Adrian Peterson ran last week in Minnesota for the first time since undergoing reconstructive knee surgery.

"Did a great job," Frazier said. "Our trainer, Eric Sugarman, was really impressed with his movement and the things he was able to do. He's on schedule. He's doing well." Peterson remains on the timeline laid out by Sugarman following the surgery.
Source: ESPN 1500 Twin Cities

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I would assume that's hyperbole, AD has never been THAT fast. If he can get back to 4.4 speed, that would be amazing.

Yes, it was. Frazier was just saying that Peterson is itching to run fast.

I don't think anyone is particularly worried about whether he'll have 4.4 speed again. Speed wasn't Peterson's greatest asset. It was his cutting ability, which will take a modern medical miracle to be restored.

Woot!

Adrian Peterson - RB - Vikings

One month after beginning dryland running, Adrian Peterson (ACL, MCL, meniscus surgery) finished first in wind sprints with teammates this week.

"I remember (backup quarterback) Joe Webb saying, 'I can't believe it. I just can't believe it,'" coach Leslie Frazier said. "So, he's doing great and we're optimistic that he's going to be ready for that first game." While Peterson confirmed once again that he's a true freak of nature just four months removed from surgery, the big tell will be how he fares once he begins to cut laterally.
Source: ESPN 1500 Twin Cities

I really hope he's listening to the doctors and not pushing it too hard. A guy like him wanting to come back too quickly can end up hurting himself worse.

Spielman was just on Mike and Mike and he said Peterson has started moving laterally too (I can't remember if he said "cutting" so I'm hedging my bets with "moving").

Totally agree. AD is in real danger of pushing his recovery far too fast.

I understand the concern but none of us are in a position to make that kind of determination.

Unreal. We are very fortunate to have a player such as Adrian.

I was listening to that interview with Frazier and he mentioned that Sugarman was on the sidelines with AD when he decided to do the sprints so hopefully they're keeping a close watch on him and reining him in when necessary.

What a beast!

This has been my main concern the whole time. The closer he gets to feeling good the closer they'll have to watch him.

I had an ACL reconstruction in the 90's (no, I'm not in my 90's yet... Maybe by then the Vikes will have won the big one). My doctors had a very specific set of exercises to do (and things to not do) and they checked on progress (on the looseness of my knee joint) fairly regularly. I can only assume Peterson is getting better advice from better doctors and full time care, rather than my weekly visits. I was playing soccer with a brace in six months. Rod Woodson played after four months, IIRC. So I'm guessing we are talking about a legitimate fast recovery for AD.

The really dangerous time (IIRC) is about six weeks after surgery, before the blood flow is completely reconnected, and the graft is weakest. They wouldn't let me do anything but stationary bike at that time. He has made it past that point. I assume he'll wear a brace for a while, which will probably prevent another ACL tear, but he could still be subject to torsional damage to the meniscus if he tries too hard before he recreates his muscle tone that provides most of the knee support.

I am not trying to judge where he is today per se. My concern is that he has stated a target of Week 1 and I am not sure making it an 8 month recovery is medically sound. Regardless of whether he is medically cleared Week 1, I hope he and his medical team go conservative and that he sits far longer especially given the team is likely 8-8 at best. No need at all for him to play early is the way I see it.

One final point: I do have confidence the Vikings trainers in consultation with the surgeon who did the procedure will design the best possible rehab for him and only clear him when they feel he is medically ready. I know it is unreasonable on some level to advocate extra delay, I just feel more time is in order because this game is football and a normal football move or a cut could be the end for him so I prefer extra caution is justified.