Adrian Peterson: Polishing a gem

Adrian Peterson rushed for 1,341 yards in his first NFL season, established the league's single-game rushing record by going for 296 yards against San Diego, earned offensive Rookie of the Year honors and was named MVP of the Pro Bowl.

As far as the Vikings and Peterson were concerned, that was only a start. Peterson might have been considered an elite running back in 2007, but this season the expectation is that he becomes a complete player.

"He's stepping up his game professionally," Vikings running backs coach Eric Bieniemy said. "He's taking his playbook home. Things are starting to make a little bit more sense to him. ... He's learning how to be a professional."

Among the areas Peterson focused on with Bieniemy this offseason were pass protection, catching the ball and being a more patient runner.

Developing that patience might be the most intriguing process. Peterson failed to rush for 100 yards in the Vikings' final four games, and it was theorized he might have been slowed by a partially torn lateral collateral ligament in his right knee that sidelined him for two games.

Peterson has said that wasn't the case. As he watched film of himself, the thing he realized was that San Francisco, Chicago, Washington and Denver took advantage of his lack of patience.

Peterson's goal is to be more patient before he gets the ball. By slowing down a little and allowing blocking to develop, he should have better opportunities to explode through holes opened by the offensive line.

"Seeing when I ran it correct and was more patient, I was able to see the holes better and give those guys up front more time to do their job," Peterson said. "Just comparing [seeing] me doing it the right way to how I normally do it at full speed, it was a big difference. I was still getting a couple yards here, a couple yards there, but it's totally different when you let the scheme work for you."

The fact that pass protection was on Peterson's spring and summer to-do list came as no surprise. Improved ability to identify blitz packages means Peterson will be able to stay on the field on crucial passing downs. It was well-documented last season that he often found himself replaced by veteran Chester Taylor on third down or in two-minute situations.

"I feel very comfortable," Peterson said. "It never was an issue about me not being able to block or anything like that. It was more an issue of understanding the different schemes the defense showed, the different blitz packages that we go against. That was really the biggest thing, and I've picked up on that. I'm light years from where I was last year. I'm definitely more confident that I can get the job done."

Peterson, the seventh overall pick in the 2007 draft, admitted that adjusting from the terminology used during his three seasons at Oklahoma to what the Vikings employed was a challenge.

"It will make you feel like you don't know anything about the offense," he said. "That's really what it was."

The pass-catching aspect of Peterson's game did not present nearly as big of a challenge. He had 19 receptions for 268 yards last season and took a swing pass 60 yards for a touchdown against Atlanta in the season opener.

Peterson pointed out that some of the questions about him as a receiver were because he rarely played that role during his time with the Sooners. Still, Peterson knew he could improve.

"I knew it was something I could definitely work on because at this level, it's a game of inches and every play counts," Peterson said. "Being in the right spot on the outside option or inside option affects the play. So just really pinpointing and running my routes. That was something that you need to work on at this level to make sure you can execute the play call."