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I recall hearing it .....but I drink copious amounts of robitussian too.DKSweets wrote:Is this the first we've heard of how he injured his back? I don't remember hearing that, but I might have just missed it.
Sounds like he's got the right mindset. He's a football player.Looking back, he admits that the injury, which required surgery, was “really devastating” at first. He had performed well enough to climb the depth chart, then suddenly found himself standing on the sideline down the stretch instead of in the backfield next to rookie quarterback Teddy Bridgewater.
Now, as he is close to completing his post-surgery rehab program, McKinnon looks back on his rookie season much more favorably.
“I was happy with how the season went. It was a blessing, just being able to play in the NFL, a dream come true,” he said. “I took it for what it was. I’m happy but I’m not content.”
While many of his teammates headed home after the season or to exotic locales much warmer than Minnesota, the Georgia native has stayed in the Twin Cities so he can rehab his injury at Winter Park with the team’s athletic training staff. He has only a couple more weeks left before the process is completed.
“It’s been pretty good. It’s been a long process, but that’s just the way it goes after surgery. I’ve been here all offseason working really hard,” McKinnon said last week in a phone interview. “I’ve just been in the training room with [assistant athletic trainer] Tom Hunkele pushing myself to the limit and just trying to get back ready. It’s been a long grind but it’s definitely working.”
Only three rookie running backs averaged more yards per carry than McKinnon, who averaged 4.8. Only two, Hill and St. Louis’ Tre Mason, averaged more rushing yards per game. And his four runs of 20-plus yards were fourth among rookie backs.
SANTA ANA, Calif. -- With Adrian Peterson in purgatory, the Vikings' hollowed-out running game remains unsettled as the offseason chugs along with no detente reached between the team and its disgruntled superstar.
Just another day in the life of second-year scat back Jerick McKinnon.
His undefined role hinges on whether Minnesota persuades Peterson to honor a $12.75 million contract in 2015 or trades his muddled status to another team -- abstractions that mean little to McKinnon, who refuses to dabble in Peterson politics.
He is hunting bigger game.
The ball carrier is fully recovered from back surgery that short-circuited his 2014 rookie season and eager to prove durable enough to produce over a 16-game NFL season.
"There's no doubt in my mind I can last the season," McKinnon said this week. "If that's something I have to prove, that's not a big deal for me. I'll prove it this year. I'm just really excited to get back out there with my teammates and coaches and show how far I've come since surgery."
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McKinnon, 22, rehabbed with Vikings trainers for two months at Winter Park. He left March 7 for Southern California to start off season training with several offensive teammates. He is crashing with Kyle Rudolph at the tight end's Newport Beach house overlooking the Pacific Ocean.
Each is working back from season-marring injuries, and they share a no-nonsense approach to the cyclical training and conditioning required of a professional football player.
"He just works," Rudolph said. "It's rare that you get rookies that were that successful in college come in and just buy in immediately."
Rudolph organized the Vikings workout crew that includes quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, wide receiver Charles Johnson and newly signed tight end Brandon Bostick, whom the Packers released last month.
McKinnon (5 feet 9, 208 pounds) is working to build up more upper-body strength and endurance to withstand the pounding, and improve his pass protection.
Despite Peterson's 15-game absence, the Vikings finished a respectable 14th in rushing behind McKinnon and Matt Asiata's combined 1,108 yards. The tandem generated 1,555 yards from scrimmage.
"If A.P. comes back, there's no doubt he's going to be the starter," McKinnon said. "But it's not going to change my mind-set or how I approach things or how I work. Whatever they do, my mind-set is to come in and be that guy next year."
McKinnon caught 23 passes for 121 yards. He ran tough and expects to run tougher in 2015.
Last year, McKinnon averaged 2.15 yards after contact, 11th in the NFL, according to ESPN Stats & Information. But it also exacted a toll late in the season. McKinnon tried playing through his debilitating injury only to shut it down with five games remaining.