Toby Gerhart's upper body looks as if it has been inflated with air. Barrel-chested with thick arms and shoulders, he looks as if he swallowed a keg.
"I've been the same weight since my senior year in high school," he said.
Come on. No way. He's never resembled a toothpick, but this is not how he looked last season.
"I think last year my weight was 233," he said. "This year they bumped my weight to 235."
That's it? Two measly pounds?
Weight gain or not, Gerhart sported a different appearance when he arrived for Vikings training camp. He transformed his body this offseason while maintaining his target weight, hoping the ripped muscle look would enable him to withstand more punishment as a featured running back in case Adrian Peterson's recovery from knee surgery hit a snag or unexpected delay.
Peterson's rehab remains on track and the Vikings intend to ramp up his workload in practice this week, but the team plans to hold him out the final two preseason games.
The Vikings continue to express cautious optimism with Peterson's timetable, careful to let the process play out, even as Peterson pushes the envelope to get back on the field. Peterson, of course, wants it to happen yesterday. He wants to feel the sensation of smashing into a defender, hitting a hole, getting tackled to the ground. He's ready to test his reconstructed knee to see how well it holds up.