Vikings holding breath over Peterson injury

MINNEAPOLIS - Adrian Peterson, star running back for the Minnesota Vikings, left Sunday's game in the third quarter after suffering a knee injury. He needed assistance to hop off the field and did not put any weight on his right leg.

"I don't know," coach Mike Zimmer said when asked about the severity of the injury. "We'll get an MRI in the morning."

Peterson carried the ball up the middle on a first-and-10 play late in the third quarter. He was dragged down from behind by Green Bay Packers linebacker Kyler Fackrell, and the right knee appeared to buckle.

As Peterson sat on the ground, the crowd inside U.S. Bank Stadium began to chant. A-P! A-P! A-P! And the fans turned silent when they realized he could not walk off the field on his own.

"It is really sad because of how close we are," backup running back Matt Asiata said. "But it is the next man up. We have to step up and try to fill in the job."

After exiting the field, Peterson was seen being carried through the tunnel on the television broadcast. He eventually left the stadium on crutches and with a brace on his right knee.

"The report is he is going to get an MRI tomorrow and figure it out," Zimmer said. "I don't know. He might miss a week; I don't know if he will or not. Whatever it was, it's calmed down now so we'll see."

The injury would be a crushing blow for a team that already lost its starting quarterback shortly before the season opener. Teddy Bridgewater, a budding talent and franchise quarterback, suffered a gruesome knee injury at practice that included, among other things, a torn ACL.

To lose the two most important players on offense would be devastating.

"The mentality is to step up; that is it," Asiata said. "Go out and do what you do every week and just perform."