Fantasy football: Adrian Peterson latest, potential return game date

If you’re an Adrian Peterson fantasy owner, be prepared to enter the playoffs with a backup plan at running back (though guessing if you’ve made it this far without AP, you already have one).

That said, if you make it to the semi-finals and finals in your league, you will likely be getting a huge boost in the backfield in mid-December. All of the news coming out of Vikings camp in the past several weeks is positive when it comes to the health of Peterson’s bum right knee.

“Today (Sunday, Nov. 27), Vikings medical staff are expected to examine the knee,” FOX Sports Jay Glazer said on the network’s pregame show. “They’ll see if there’s swelling, if there’s not they’re actually going to take Adrian Peterson and start running him outside on the turf here in the next couple of days. If that goes well Adrian Peterson is hoping that he gets fast-tracked back into that Vikings lineup.”

Peterson has been running lightly in the past few weeks. There’s no way he gets back in time for this Thursday’s game against Dallas. Even if he shockingly dresses the following week at Jacksonville, he’d likely be used as nothing more than a decoy and would offer little fantasy value.

Sunday, Dec. 18 (Week 15) against the Colts in Minnesota remains the target date for a Peterson return. He’dbe a risky play for sure given that there’s no way to tell how much Mike Zimmer would use No. 28, but at that point he’ll likely be a better option than the Chris Thompsons and Jalen Richards of the world.