King Kaufman's Sports Daily

Adrian Peterson is set to return, but should the Vikings have shut him down? And does the team's record figure into that decision?

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Nov. 27, 2007 | The Minneapolis Star Tribune reports that the MRI exam on the injured right knee of Adrian Peterson, the sensational rookie running back for the Minnesota Vikings, showed enough healing that he'll practice this week and if all goes well he'll play in Sunday's key home game against the Detroit Lions.

The Vikings are 5-6 and in the thick of the NFC wild-card race, tied with six other teams one game behind the reeling Lions for the last playoff spot. And Minnesota has arguably the easiest schedule of any team in the scrum.

It's uncontroversial that a team in that situation would want its best offensive player back on the field, but two weeks ago the decision wasn't so obvious. The Vikings looked finished. They were 3-6 and coming off the 34-0 drubbing by the Green Bay Packers in which Peterson was injured.

After the team announced that Peterson would miss at least one game, but not the rest of the season, a prominent orthopedic specialist from Florida, Johnny Benjamin, made the media rounds saying the Vikings should shut Peterson down for the rest of the year.

He argued that while he hadn't examined Peterson, a lateral collateral ligament tear, which Peterson has, is a six-week injury. Rushing him back, Benjamin said, would be a matter of the Vikings trying to keep fans interested in an otherwise poor season for the team and coach Brad Childress trying to get a few wins to save his job. The risk for the team would be minimal, Benjamin said, because NFL contracts are not guaranteed.

Several other physicians interviewed for this column, as well as famed orthopedist James Andrews, said it's possible Peterson could safely return within two or three weeks. The Vikings issued a statement by Andrews on Nov. 14 saying Peterson should be evaluated on a week-to-week basis. Peterson himself was lobbying to get back onto the field on the day he was injured.

While Benjamin was roasted by some Vikes fans and compared by the Star Tribune to Drs. Al Bendova and Vinny Boombatz, comedic quacks in the comedy routines of Johnny Carson and Rodney Dangerfield, he also had some supporters.

The AOL Fanhouse blog ran an item headlined "Please, Please Let Adrian Peterson Sit," and one commenter wrote, "I could see if Minny was 10-1 but still there is no way I would let the franchise play until he is 100 percent."

ESPN's resident certified strength and conditioning specialist, Stephania Bell, laid out the risks of Peterson coming back too quickly and concluded, "Let's root for Peterson to come back healthy, even if it means we all have to wait just a little longer."

So what role should the fortunes of the team play in the decision of when to return an athlete to the field?

Next page: The dilemma of sports medicine: Who is the doctor working for, the team or the athlete?