The Facts: Peterson and Vikings head athletic trainer Eric Sugarman met with reporters on Friday to give an update on his recovery, two weeks after Peterson had surgery to reconstruct the ACL and repair the MCL in his left knee. “I feel like the first week was the toughest part for me, not being able to sleep, waking up every two hours, just dealing with the pain and the frustration, looking ahead like, 'Wow, I’ve got a long way before I’m able just to move around and walk,”’ Peterson said. “But after that first week, I feel like things really just started to calm down. The pain started to subside. I was able to just get more motivated about the process.”

Diehards Line:Peterson injured his knee at Washington on Dec. 24. Dr. James Andrews performed the surgery on Dec. 30, replacing his ACL with the patellar tendon. Peterson ditched the crutches and has started to work on range-of-motion exercises and rebuilding strength in his quadriceps muscle. The Vikings have assembled a regimented program for him in hopes of having him ready for his previously stated goal of Week 1 next season. “His surgery was certainly a success and everything’s fine,” Sugarman said. “That’s the one thing that you really have to be cautious the first couple months. You can’t push him too hard, otherwise you can put him at risk. He knows that. We all know that. That’s why the protocol is setup the way it is.” Peterson will perform the rehab both in Minnesota and at his offseason home in Houston. We'll obviously be following his progress closely in coming months. Stay tuned.