Despite all the rumors and news surrounding Adrian Peterson over the offseason, the Vikings running back always felt that he’d return to Minnesota, as he tells Mark Craig of the Minneapolis Star Tribune. “Deep down inside, I always knew I’d be back here,” said Peterson. “I like looking at situations and putting myself in other people’s positions. No way the Vikings were going to let me go.” Peterson will have to run behind a Phil Loadholt-less offensive line, as we learned earlier tonight that the Vikings right tackle tore his Achilles.
Here’s more from the NFC:
- The Giants have suffered a rash of injuries in their secondary, leading Paul Schwartz of the New York Post to wonder if the G-Men might be forced to make some additional signings. Rookie safeties Landon Collins and Mykkele Thompson each suffered injuries in last night’s preseason game (Thompson’s is more serious, as he’s expected to miss the season), and although head coach Tom Coughlin hopes that corner Prince Amukamara will return soon, he admits that new players may have to be brought in.
- The Saints extended guard Jahri Evans this offseason — mostly to create cap space — but Larry Holder of the Times-Picayune isn’t sure how much the 31-year-old has left. Comparing Evans to a pitcher who has lost his fastball and has become “craftier,” Holder nevertheless observes that Evans has been regularly beaten by opposing defensive lineman during camp.
- Offensive lineman Darren Keyton will miss the entire season after tearing his patellar tendon, tweets Michael Rothstein of ESPN.com, and according to Kyle Meinke of MLive.com, the Lions didn’t wait around to look for candidates to take Keyton’s role. Detroit held OL tryouts directly after today’s practice, but the names of the players involved were not released.