Mike Zimmer wanted to talk about neither his vision nor Adrian Peterson’s future on Wednesday. Peterson had no such issues, telling reporters he will play again this season only if there is a playoff spot at stake.
Just more drama for a Vikings team that spent the past seven weeks having the optimism kicked out of it. Now, the confident club that broke training camp in Mankato four exhausting months ago — and the NFL’s last remaining unbeaten team on Oct. 9 — is dissolving in plain sight.
With four games remaining in a season spiraling out of control, it’s the off-field narratives that dominate. Among them, a quarterback dilemma heating up as Sam Bradford tightens his grip on Teddy Bridgewater’s job under the familiar tutelage of interim offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur.
Bridgewater, meanwhile, rehabs in absentia knowing his greatest advocate, former offensive coordinator Norv Turner, already has taken his playbook and gone home.
Enter Peterson. Sidelined by knee surgery Sept. 22, he has watched the Vikings disintegrate from the NFL’s 5-0 standard bearer to a desperate 6-6 club with a hypothetical rushing attack that must run the table in the final four games just to stay in the postseason conversation.
Unless the Dec. 24 visit to Lambeau Field holds playoff implications for the Vikings, Peterson may well have played his final snap in Minnesota. The last time the 31-year-old power back played in a meaningless road game on a chewed-up field on Christmas Eve, he was carted out of Washington with torn knee ligaments.
No wonder the future hall of famer is wary of suiting up for token appearances behind an offensive line that has deteriorated into gross negligence. And he made it clear the decision would be his and his alone.
“Obviously, if we lose two games, we’re out, so we’ll just play it by ear,” Peterson said Wednesday.
Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.
Peterson, the NFL’s reigning rushing champion, is due an untenable $18 million next season. He will have to negotiate an ego-saving pay cut to stay in Minnesota, his true value muddled by the paltry 1.6-yard average he accumulated in 31 forgettable carries before being injured Week 2.
The Vikings need a running back the way a desert nomad needs water. Handing the ball to a diminished Peterson poses a greater threat than ramrodding Matt Asiata into the back of right guard Brandon Fusco.
Meanwhile, Zimmer chafed when asked about the multiple surgeries required to re-attach a torn retina in his right eye, an ongoing medical crisis that forced him off the sideline and to the couch to watch last Thursday’s 17-15 loss to Dallas.
“Let’s talk about Jacksonville,” Zimmer huffed.
Move along, folks, nothing to see here.
He also bristles when questioned about Peterson’s recovery, or whether he expects him to be available to play this season. Head coaches will do that with injured players who are segregated from the active roster.
But the way Zimmer snuffs the issue at every turn suggests there are greater financial and political forces in play here than the health of Peterson’s knee.
“There are no other determining factors,” Zimmer insisted. “I don’t have a timetable. The guys that are out here, I’m trying to coach the best I can, and if he comes out, I’ll try to coach him the best, whenever that is.”
Bradford might not survive the season playing behind this five-man turnstile. There was a Shaun Hill sighting in last week’s loss to Dallas after Bradford was chased to the bench for two plays while trainers confirmed he still had 12 pairs of ribs after being crunched by two Cowboys defenders.
The dearth of downfield passing has tempered Bradford’s career rejuvenation, but there is no denying the chemistry he has with Shurmur and the confidence the 2010 No. 1 overall pick has regained with his third team.
“I do feel more comfortable out there than I probably have in the past, and I think that’s just from being healthy two years in a row and being able to go out there and to play,” said Bradford, who suffered season-ending knee injuries in 2011 and 2013 with the Rams.
“Obviously, I think some of that comes from being with Pat and being in a system that I’m familiar with too. … I would say right now is the most comfortable I’ve felt out there.”
Bridgewater remains an enigma. His random appearances on the sideline and in the locker room reveal him to be ambulatory, upbeat and muted, promising to talk publicly after the season about the injury that raised uncertainty about his future.
Bridgewater’s recovery and state of mind are of paramount interest to a fan base that has heard little from him since he mangled his knee Aug. 30. Does he feel threatened by Bradford’s reassuring presence, efficiency and newfound security?
Cutting open a vein and claiming entitlement to the job Bradford has seized would be toxic while the Vikings are hammer-and-tonging for every yard in a playoff chase growing steeper by the hour.
But never mind the red meat. How about a cursory update on his rehab, a shout out to the fans or a few canned quotes about the final four games?
Bridgewater’s silence only adds to an already overwrought saga.