Vikings Expect To Make Friday Ruling on Peterson's Status

(Reuters) - Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson, who has been recuperating from reconstructive knee surgery, should know within the next 24 hours whether he will play in Sunday's season opener, the team said on Thursday.

Peterson, who owns the National Football League's (NFL) single-game rushing record, has not played since tearing his anterior cruciate ligament last December in a game against the Washington Redskins.

However, the four-time Pro Bowl selection has been taking part in practice this week and Vikings coach Leslie Frazier said he would probably have all the information he needed on making a final decision by Friday night.

"Everything we've asked him to do thus far, he's been able to get it done to the point where you believe he's functioning properly," Frazier told reporters on Thursday. "But we want to do some things with him tomorrow as well."

Frazier cautioned that, should Peterson play against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday, the running back was unlikely to take on a significant workload.

"You just can't forget that he's missed a lot of football and a lot of offseason and the fact that he's still coming off a major, major injury," Frazier said. "So we just need to be wise, if he got into the game, with what we did with him for sure."

Peterson, 27, was selected by the Vikings in the first round of the 2007 Draft, has been a Pro Bowl selection in each of his four seasons and set the single-game rushing record when he ran for 296 yards against the San Diego Chargers in 2007.

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