Vikings notes: Greenway misses practice with broken hand

Chad Greenway broke his left hand in Sunday's 30-7 loss against the Patriots, Vikings coach Mike Zimmer said Wednesday.

The veteran linebacker, who wore a splint around the hand, was one of three players who did not participate in practice. Right tackle Phil Loadholt (ankle) and defensive tackle Sharrif Floyd (shoulder) also were held out.

"It just started to really bother me swelling up, and something happened in the game," Greenway said.

Asked whether he'll play through the injury on Sunday against the Saints, Greenway said, "We'll see." Greenway missed his rookie season in 2006 because of a knee injury, but he hasn't missed a game since. He battled through a fractured right wrist for the final month of last season.

"We don't know exactly to what extent it's going to affect him," Zimmer said.

Supporting Peterson

Cornerback Captain Munnerlyn expressed his disapproval with the team's decision to place running back Adrian Peterson on the Exempt/Commissioner's Permission list. Munnerlyn didn't see anything wrong with Peterson using a switch to discipline his 4-year-old son.

"Growing up, my mom, she disciplined me the same way," Munnerlyn said. "And I'd say it got me to this point now. I'm in the NFL, and I know how to behave. I really didn't see the big deal. People are blowing it out of proportion with all this, and all that. At the end of the day, we came here to win a football game. I think for Adrian, the best thing for him to do is play football to let out some frustration and be himself.

"If Adrian wasn't in the limelight, I don't think this would be coming up at all because you raise your kids how you raise your kids. They're your kids."

When asked if he looked at the alleged photos after Peterson "whooped" the child with a switch, Munnerlyn said: "No, I really didn't look into it. Growing up, that was nothing. My mom, she always welted me up and things like that. In my culture, that's how I was raised; and my mom, that's how she raised her kids."

Learning curve

It has been well documented that rookie running back Jerick McKinnon wasn't asked to pass protect while playing quarterback or running back at Georgia Southern. While he's been learning how to pass block, McKinnon has also adjusted to running between the tackles in the NFL.

McKinnon said he ran outside the tackles in college, but he received a few snaps against the Patriots running up the middle in an increased role with Peterson's absence. McKinnon said trusting the play to develop has been the most difficult adjustment, but he said he got experience in those situations on Sunday.

"Sometimes things get clogged up in the middle, and you tend to check your feet in the hole," McKinnon said. "Just run with it, trust it, hit the hole hard and do what you can."

Old buddies?

Saints head coach Sean Payton and Zimmer spent three seasons on the Cowboys coaching staff from 2003-05. Payton served as an assistant head coach/quarterbacks coach while Zimmer was the defensive coordinator.

Payton said he hasn't had a chance to talk to his good friend but expects Zimmer will know how to prepare his players for Sunday's Week 3 game in New Orleans despite the Peterson distraction.

"Obviously, whenever you're a head coach, you try to limit distractions," Payton said. "Yet, they come. You don't know when they're coming, but he'll handle this in a great manner. His demeanor is such, and I'm sure that he'll quickly get the focus on football for the players, that I would say is a strong suit of Mike's."

Music blared through the speakers at the start of practice for the first time under Zimmer as they prepared for the noisy Superdome.

That was common under former head coach Leslie Frazier. Perhaps in an attempt to keep the team loose, the players responded positively to the background noise during stretching and individual drills before Zimmer pumped in crowd noise during the team workouts.