Is Adrian Peterson’s Rapid Recovery For Real?

On December 30th 2011, superstar Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson underwent surgery to repair tears to his ACL and MCL. Just five short months later and he is already beating teammates in sprints including uphill runs against speedy teammate Percy Harvin.

The question has to be asked – is this for real?

With most players who suffer the injuries that Peterson did, they’re usually out at least 10-12 months and can sometimes be out for 15-18 months if the injury doesn’t heal correctly. Peterson rejected this at Vikings practice Wednesday stating that he still aimed to be at Vikings training camp between July 27 and August 16.

"“I know it’s coming around soon. But I’m just worrying about what I can right now, and that’s doing my rehab, focusing on my body and trying to get this leg as strong as possible to be able to participate in training camp.”"

The fact that Peterson is working out at all least alone running strongly is a massive surprise even for a player who heals as well as he does. We all know the guy is superhuman at time but is it really wise for him to push himself so hard? Adrian Peterson is 27 years old and has already endured several bruising seasons as his team’s bell-cow. How many more miles does he have left on the clock?

I tend to be sceptical when it comes to these guys who supposedly heal quickly because inevitably they’ve had to cut corners on their rehab to do it. If Adrian Peterson is able to come back and play from week 1 to week 17 this season at the same high rate that he has since he entered the NFL then you can call me the most surprised NFL commentator this side of the moon. Until I see him do it though I will be of the opinion that Peterson’s rapid return is not only somewhat fraudulent but that it is also extremely foolhardy for both him and the Minnesota Vikings franchise that relies on him so heavily as this could seriously endanger his career.

Adrian Peterson may be one of the best running backs the NFL has ever seen but in the end he’s still human – and while I wish him all the best I wish he’d take it easy just this once.

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