Sooner more than later, Jackson makes return to practice

MANKATO - Vikings quarterback Tarvaris Jackson returned to the field Wednesday for the first time since suffering a left knee sprain and said he felt "great" after being eased into drills.

Jackson appeared to experience no problems on his drop backs and showed good mobility on a rollout in the afternoon practice. Afterward, he said everything went well and that he's hoping to do more work in full team drills as soon as possible.

"I felt good," he said. "Just trying to get back in the groove of it. I'm just doing what I'm told and not trying to rush it too fast."

Jackson missed five full practices after suffering a Grade 1 sprain of his medial collateral ligament on Saturday. He told reporters on Tuesday that he didn't know when he would return to practice, but he was cleared Wednesday and wore a brace.

"This is what I was pushing for," he said. "They never gave me a date. I wanted to get out here as soon as possible, but I'm happy to get back out here already."

Coach Brad Childress said he thought Jackson moved well in both practices.

Rookie wide receiver Percy Harvin was conducting his media interview session when Adrian Peterson sneaked up from behind and pretended to be a reporter.

"Question back here for Percy. Who do you think is faster between you and Adrian Peterson?" Peterson asked.

"I would have to go with myself," Harvin said. "He probably has a lot of power over me, but I think I got the speed."

Peterson laughed and walked off. A few minutes earlier, Harvin called it a "dream" to line up in the backfield with Peterson, a formation the offense has tinkered with the past few days.

"Love it," Harvin said.

"That's one of the dreams I had during the whole draft period when I thought they were going to pick me. Being back there with him is a dream come true. I'm looking forward to being back there with him quite often."

Harvin said he's excited about the offense's potential.

"We have so many weapons you kind of want to see what teams are going to do," he said. "You know they don't have enough defenders to match up with what we've got."

Former defensive end Kenechi Udeze watched the morning practice. Udeze retired last week after attempting to come back from a deadly form of cancer known as acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

"It was great to see him," Childress said. "He looks like a million bucks. I was glad to see his smiling face."

• Defensive end Brian Robison (hamstring) missed both practices, which Childress said is more of a precaution.

• A day after the team waived Aundrae Allison, the New York Jets claimed the wide receiver.

• The Vikings signed rookie running back Antone Smith out of Florida State. He takes Allison's roster spot.