MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -Minnesota Vikings starting running back Chester Taylor injured his hip on a screen pass in the first quarter of Sunday’s game 24-3 victory over Atlanta. He didn’t return.
On first-and-15 from the Atlanta 45, Taylor slipped out of the backfield and headed toward the flat as Tarvaris Jackson lofted a pass in Taylor’s direction.
But as Taylor reached up, he immediately pulled his arm down and crumpled to the turf as the pass fell incomplete. Taylor lay on the turf for several moments before walking off.
He grimaced on the trainer’s table while being examined before heading to the locker room with a team official. Taylor watched the second half in uniform on the sideline.
Coach Brad Childress said Taylor would be re-evaluated on Monday. The coach indicated the running back was in a good deal of pain, but he didn’t have a specific prognosis.
Taylor is half of what the Vikings hope will be one of the best rushing tandems in the league. In his first year as a starter, Taylor rushed for 1,216 yards and six touchdowns in 2006.
But he started to wear down toward the end of a team-record 303-carry season, so the Vikings selected Adrian Peterson with the seventh overall pick in April’s draft.
Taylor rushed for 18 yards on three carries, and Peterson had an excellent NFL debut with 19 carries for 103 yards and a 60-yard touchdown reception.
Third-stringer Mewelde Moore was deactivated before the game, leaving Peterson as the only remaining tailback in uniform. Childress said backup fullback Naufahu Tahi was the emergency replacement.
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