EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. (AP) -Minnesota’s last visit to Green Bay was nothing less than miserable.
Adrian Peterson left Lambeau Field with a torn lateral collateral ligament in his right knee after just 11 carries for 45 yards and the Vikings were trounced 34-0 by the Packers.
Minnesota managed to regroup and win five straight games after that, but the picture of Peterson – then at the peak of his sensational rookie season – writhing on the ground in pain late in the third quarter on that November afternoon was quite the unpleasant image. Even though he returned three weeks later.
Peterson was asked following Friday’s practice whether the impending trip to the scene of the injury has been a part of his thought process this week.
“A little bit, but you know the main priority is going out and executing my job and coming out with a victory,” Peterson said, predictably reciting the old company line. “What better way to start, against a division rival in Green Bay on Monday night? To kick it off like that and show the world what we’ve got.”
Peterson’s biggest challenge as a powerful runner with elite-level speed is pacing himself, carrying the ball in a way that minimizes his health risk and being patient enough to wait for those holes to open.
“He’s a million-mile-an-hour guy,” coach Brad Childress said. “You always want to keep an eye on somebody, and he again has had a good training camp. He’s well-conditioned. He also understands in his second year what it means to be a starting running back. He didn’t make every game last year. He knows the object and the goal is to be able to play 16 games. I think he’s approached the offseason that way. We’ll just see as we go here how his endurance and durability is.”
Quarterback Tarvaris Jackson is just as driven and determined to play well in this game as Peterson. His first career start, on Dec. 20, 2006, resulted in an ugly 9-7 defeat in the cold and rain in Green Bay. Last year, he didn’t play due to the lingering effects of a concussion.
“Yeah, it was a bad situation,” he said. “We thought we were ready to play, but we didn’t come out and play as well as we thought.”
So as the daylight in northeastern Wisconsin starts to fade on Monday, Peterson will take his place in the backfield – hungry to prove his 2007 success can be duplicated and eager to not only finish a full game at Lambeau Field for the first time, but to pick up his first victory over the Packers.
Jackson and the rest of his offensive teammates will line up looking for a more productive performance, not to mention their first points at Green Bay since 2005. They scored on an interception return two years ago, and in the meeting before that the offense managed only one touchdown in a 20-17 overtime win.
Plus, a proud defense is still stinging about Ryan Grant’s 119 yards rushing, the only running back that topped the triple-digit mark against them last season. The Packers devised a cunning scheme in that game, giving Grant the ball to run to the outside on the majority of his 25 carries.
New defensive end Jared Allen was brought in to not only upgrade the pass rush, but to be a dependable run stopper.
“I hope they attack the edge,” Allen said. “I look forward to that challenge. I love playing the run. I take a great deal of pride in that.”
With the whole league and much of the country tuning in, facing their not-so-friendly rivals and determined to start this pivotal season strong, the Vikings have plenty of motivation as it is. But make no mistake: The numbers 34 and 0 are also on their minds.
“Anytime you get to play a team the next year you lost to the year before,” Allen said, “it always leaves a bad taste in your mouth that whole year and you can’t wait to wash it out.”
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