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Morning walkthrough: Meet Peterson's position coach, Kalil misses another practice and more

By Matt Vensel

November 20, 2015 at 1:55PM

Every weekday, we walk you through what's going on with the Vikings.

WHAT YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED

— One might assume that all running backs coach Kirby Wilson has to do is point running back Adrian Peterson in the direction of the right end zone. But he has played a role in Peterson's successful return to the NFL.

— Peterson was named the FedEx Ground Player of the Week for the 15th time after rushing for a season-high 203 yards against the Raiders.

— Peterson has gained a sizable chunk of his yards after contact this season. That is one of the five Vikings stats that stand out this week.

— Left tackle Matt Kalil missed his second straight practice Thursday.

— Commissioner Roger Goodell will be in town Sunday to watch the game, visit with the Wilfs and check out the U.S. Bank Stadium preview center.

BEHIND ENEMY LINES

— Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers appears to be feeling better after getting in a full practice, but one of his receivers may be getting worse.

— The Packers want to get back to running the ball, at least a little bit, after they called just 16 running plays in last weekend's loss to the Lions.

— After being without four starting offensive linemen for portions of Wednesday's practice, the Packers got those big guys back Thursday.

TODAY'S VIKINGS SCHEDULE

The Vikings at 11 a.m. will get in their final practice before playing the Packers. Afterward, head coach Mike Zimmer will chat with reporters.

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT

Wilson, the running backs coach, coached Emmitt Smith for a couple of years in Arizona when Smith was putting the NFL's career rushing record perhaps out of reach. Now Wilson is coaching Peterson, who still believes he can break Smith's record even though he has 7,205 yards left to go. Asked if he thinks Peterson can actually do it, Wilson side-stepped the question. But he didn't complete dismiss it. "The No.1 trait of every great running back, and people don't talk about it, is availability," he said. "If you're going to be great, you have to be available to your football team." In nine seasons, Peterson, 30, has missed nine games due to injury. He will have to keep that going for several more seasons to catch Smith, which might be impossible.

about the writer

Matt Vensel

Reporter