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Should Adrian Peterson Play Sunday?

By TheJazzyOne on | From thevikingship.net

Should Adrian Peterson Play On Sunday

From the reports that are coming out, it sounds like there’s a chance that Adrian Peterson might play in Sunday’s game against the Broncos after sitting out just one game with a high ankle sprain.

My question is this: Is it smart to let Adrian play so soon? Will it benefit the team in any way?

I thought I’d take a look at both the pros and the cons.

The Reasons Why He Should NOT Play

Honestly, the reasons that Peterson should not play on Sunday are probably pretty obvious. The Vikings have no shot at going anywhere this year. They have no chance of even salvaging this season in any way. At 2-10 the absolute best we could do is 6-10, and since both the Bears and the Lions have 7 wins and the Packers have 12 wins, we’re already guaranteed a spot at the bottom of our division.

The only thing that wins do for us now is take away a high draft pick spot.

I’m not saying the Vikings should tank it on purpose. I’m also not saying that I’m rooting for the Vikings to lose.

I’m just saying winning doesn’t do anything except for ease the egos of us fans who have to hear it from other people. (I don’t suppose you fans that actually live in Minnesota have to deal with that quite so much as the rest of us)

I am saying, though, that there’s no reason to risk long term health of any of our superstars… and they don’t get much more “super” than Mr. Peterson. If letting him play could put his ankle in danger of further injury, there’s no sense in playing him. If he will be putting the rest of his body in danger because he’s not able to make the stops, cuts, and jukes that he normally can, there’s no sense in playing him.

Basically if there’s a chance of anything bad happening, don’t play him.

The Reasons Why He SHOULD Play

On the other hand…

If Peterson is healthy, I say by all means get him out there.

The one thing that the Vikings can still accomplish this year is experience building. Obviously guys like Peterson don’t need the experience directly, but the more snaps the Vikings can have with Peterson, Harvin, Gerhart, Ponder, and any other offensive player that will be in purple for the next few years, the better.

While winning games doesn’t necessarily help the team, the Vikings have the luxury of considering the rest of their games as “fast paced practices”. If Minnesota can improve their offensive line over the offseason and maybe pick up a receiver, offensive production should be MUCH better next season. Giving Christian Ponder more time with his go-to players is only going to improve that situation even more.