The defense was surprised. Bill Musgrave would have been more stumped than a man looking for the pea in a street-corner shell game.
On Tuesday, a ball was snapped on the first play of Adrian Peterson's first on-field football activity since last September.
"Everybody knew Adrian was getting the ball," Vikings coach Mike Zimmer said.
Typically, that wouldn't have stopped Musgrave, the team's former offensive coordinator, from sending Peterson and the pigskin into a nine-man defensive front. Only Tuesday was different with offensive coordinator Norv Turner working for the first time with quarterback Teddy Bridgewater and Peterson on the field together as starters.
"Norv called a play-action pass," Zimmer said with a smile. "So the defense got fooled pretty good on that one. Those are the kinds of things that [Peterson] helps us with."
Tuesday wasn't about Peterson's on-field performance in an unpadded, noncontact June OTA session. It was about the 19-minute news conference that followed and whether Peterson could start convincing a skeptical fan base that he's worthy of their trust after nearly a year in exile because of the injuries he inflicted when he disciplined his 4 ½-year-old son with a wooden switch.
From this viewpoint, an apologetic Peterson not only said the right things, but also struck an appropriately remorseful tone that certainly appeared sincere. That's a huge step toward this whole mess fading away and the football field finally coming back into focus.
Assuming no other unforeseen fiasco rises up to take down Turner's offense, old Norv should be quite the happy camper if the offensive line holds up. Bridgewater is emerging in Year 2, tight end Kyle Rudolph is healthy, Mike Wallace is the polished deep threat the team sorely lacked and Peterson is, well, Peterson.
