Vikings: Peterson Will Play Next Week

The Minnesota Vikings announced Monday that Adrian Peterson will “fully participate in this week’s practices and meetings” and is expected to play this Sunday. The decision follows the team’s one-game deactivation of Peterson last weekend after he turned himself in to face charges of child abuse in Texas. A grand jury indicted Peterson after a medical examiner found injuries to his 4-year-old son’s body from a “whooping” with a tree branch, which the All-Pro running back admitted to delivering. No matter for the Vikings owners, though: They said they’ll wait for the law to speak. “To be clear, we take very seriously any matter that invovles the welfare of a child,” said owners Zygi and Mark Wilf. “At this time, however, we believe this is a matter of due process, and we should allow the legal system to proceed so we can come to the most effective conclusions and then determine the appropriate course of action.” As Robert Silverman notes, child abuse counts as domestic abuse, which is being sternly and automatically punished by the league in the case of Ray Rice.