Asked if he would play Sunday, Vikings RB Adrian Peterson acknowledged his eagerness to get back into action as soon as possible even with the high ankle sprain he suffered Nov. 20 against the Raiders.
"God willing I’ll be out there [Sunday]," he said. "I’m like 70 percent."
He tried to explain his line of thinking on wanting to get back this week.
"To be honest with you, it’s been my decision," he said. "And I’ve played, I’ve been out there on the field before at 80 percent and did pretty good. But ultimately what it’s going to come down to is I’m going to have the opportunity to test it out and run on it and try to cut. And each week I’ve been making improvements. This past Saturday I stepped out and from Friday -- the day before I ran on it -- to Saturday it was like a tremendous difference as far as my top-end speed and making cuts. So I kind of figured then [this] Friday, a week after, of resting it up and doing the things I’m doing to rehab it, I’ll be feeling pretty good."
His owners would love to see him back, but the Vikings don't have much to gain by running their best player out there at less than 90 percent. The smart thing to do is to sit him down and let the ankle heal, but it sounds as if he's determined to play as soon as he can be effective.