According to 1500ESPN.com's Tom Pelissero, it just means the Vikings will be treating their star halfback like any other player for the first time since he underwent left knee reconstruction.

"We're going to try to give him as much as we can," head coach Leslie Frazier said before Wednesday's practice.

"We've got quite a few plays designed for him in practice and see how he responds and see what he has to say (Thursday) when we come back. But we really want to put him through the paces and just see how he responds."

In other words, what Peterson was able to show in practice Wednesday and what he does today will go a long way towards influencing the decision as to whether he plays.

That said, Peterson isn't to be tackled to the ground.

So, as Minneapolis Star Tribune staffer Dan Wiederer notes, it really won't be until he takes his first regular season handoff that anyone will know for sure how confident he is in his repaired left knee and how easily he'll be able to react when getting hit.

"What's going to happen on Sunday, we can't simulate in practice at all," Frazier said. "It wouldn't be wise."

So, in truth, no matter what Peterson shows the next two days in practice, eventually the Vikings coaching and medical staffs will have to make a leap of faith to clear him for game action.

Said Frazier: "It will be the same, even if we waited a week from now, three weeks from now, it's hard to simulate a game in practice. It's almost virtually impossible. So it won't necessarily be a leap of faith. It will be based on what our medical staff says, what our coaches see and what Adrian feels as well. We'll try to gather that information and make the right decision."

I'll obviously be following Peterson's progress closely right up through Sunday's kickoff. I also still fully expect Toby Gerhart to get the bulk of the carries against the Jaguars.

But barring a setback, Pelissero -- a daily observer at Vikings practices -- believes Peterson will be active this week.