Vikings running back Adrian Peterson won't practice today, still nursing soreness in his left ankle. Peterson tweaked the ankle in the first quarter of the Vikings' Week 5 win over Tennessee. And while he has played through the pain the past two games, he acknowledged Thursday that his soreness this week is "a little worse" than it was a week ago.
"It wasn't all the way healed to 100 percent going into the [Washington] game," Peterson said. "So when you have a nagging injury like that, you've just got to stay on top of it. Get the rest, continue to strengthen it and do the necessary things to get you through to that push to Sunday."
Peterson still expects to be ready to go for Sunday and said that his ankle pain hindered him "a little bit" against the Redskins.
"It wasn't anything that kept me from breaking loose against someone," Peterson said. "It was more so on cutting and like on downhill plays, power plays, I wasn't really being as explosive as I wanted to be up top to the hole. But I kind of figured it would be like that."
Part of the Vikings' philosophy in resting Peterson during practice this week is the fact that they face a short turnaround in Week 8, hosting Tampa Bay just four nights after this Sunday's game with the Cardinals.
Said Peterson: "Rest will be better than going out and beating it up, especially with the short week coming. So we're just being smart."
