Peterson As Good As Ever, But McKinnon Ready When Needed
EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. (WCCO) -- It's still too early for the Vikings to consider life without Adrian Peterson, but that day is coming.
Peterson says he feels as good as ever. His backup says he's ready any time.
Peterson is happy to be at minicamp -- a place he was not at a year ago. It's part of his off season routine.
"I try to pretty much come in just having that confidence due to the work I put in already," said Peterson. "But one thing I've realized in 10 years, there's no way to come out and duplicate playing football."
But as Peterson ages, it becomes more important that the Vikings have a very good backup. Enter Jerrick McKinnon – now a veteran on the team, now comfortable in that role.
McKinnon has done enough the past two seasons that he's in the mix. Learning, in part, by leaning on Peterson.
"It's amazing," McKinnon said. "To play with a guy that caliber and see him be able to do what he does at his age, still at a high volume day in and day out is definitely amazing."
What Peterson does is try to get better every day. For him, that means constantly striving to become a more complete back.
"Just trying to improve my craft. I've been focusing on and talking about being more effective in the pass game," Peterson said. "When I'm in the meeting rooms, just making sure I'm paying attention to the little details."
For McKinnon it's about proving he's reliable and having proved he's ready.
"I'm pretty confident when I get in there that I know I'm going to do the right thing, what the coaches ask of me," said McKinnon. "I'm pretty sure that the coaches believe that they can trust in me. I've just got to come out here every day with the mindset to get better."