Vikings' Day at camp Wednesday

The Vikings got back to a regular routine with a morning walkthrough followed by an afternoon practice in full pads on a sunny, 82-degree day. It was a spirited effort as players talked about trying to practice harder out of respect for coach Mike Zimmer's father, Bill, who passed away Tuesday night.

A thigh bruise kept running back Adrian Peterson from practicing, but running backs coach Kirby Wilson still put the 2012 league MVP to work. During an individual drill designed to teach ball security, Peterson was in charge of jabbing at the ball with a boxing glove attached to a long pole as players ran by.

After not playing in Sunday's preseason opener and taking a back seat even in the nickel package in recent practices, veteran cornerback Captain Munnerlyn was working with the first-team nickel ahead of rookie Trae Waynes. Munnerlyn practiced with a feisty edge and even jawed back and forth with receiver Charles Johnson after Johnson complained to an official that Munnerlyn should have been flagged for interference on an end zone incompletion during a team red-zone portion of practice.

Terence Newman sure didn't look 36 years old on Wednesday. He made a leaping interception while covering Mike Wallace in an individual drill. Later, in the team red-zone portion of practice, Newman made an alert and athletic move on the ball after a low pass bounced off the hands of receiver Jarius Wright into a crowd of defenders. Newman's interception kept Teddy Bridgewater and the offense from scoring during that period.

"Don't blame the pylon." — Receivers coach George Stewart after receiver Adam Thielen kicked the pylon in the corner of the end zone after dropping a deep ball in the end zone during an individual drill.

Peterson was sidelined because of a thigh bruise. Rookie defensive lineman B.J. Dubose returned to the field and outside linebacker Anthony Barr (knee) returned to the 11-on-11 portion of practice. Defensive tackle Shamar Stephen was absent because he was getting a magnetic resonance imaging exam for an injury that Zimmer wouldn't disclose. Sitting out practice were receiver Gavin Lutman, guard David Yankey, tight end Brandon Bostick, defensive end Scott Crichton and cornerback Josh Robinson.

Zimmer moved Thursday's practice to the morning (9-10:30) and the one-hour walkthrough to 3 p.m. The team breaks the Mankato portion of training camp on Thursday. Friday is an off day and the team plays its second preseason game on Saturday against Tampa Bay at TCF Bank Stadium.