Vikings put Patrick Peterson on the team’s reserve/COVID-19 roster, status for Week 13 game at Lions undetermined

Just over a week on Minnesota Vikings‘active squad, veteran full-back Patrick Peterson was placed on the team’s reserve/COVID-19 roster on Monday.

Vikings coach Mike Zimmer confirmed Peterson is fully vaccinated and needs two negative tests 24 hours apart to be eligible to return for Sunday’s game in Detroit.

Peterson played in 77 times – including 70 times in defence – in the previous Vikings 12-week road loss 49ers. The match was Peterson’s second since returning from an injured reserve match. Peterson missed three games in a row after sustaining a hamstring injury in Minnesota’s Week 6 win over Carolina Panthers. It marked the first time in Peterson’s 11-year career that he was forced to miss a regular season game due to injury.

An eight-time bowler in his time with The Arizona Cardinals, Peterson has scored 21 tackles and two blocked passes in these first eight games with the Vikings. A member of the NFL’s All-Decade team in the 2010s, Peterson signed a one-year, $8 million contract with the Vikings during the off-season.

Minnesota’s defense struggled in the first 11 games of the season. After Sunday’s loss to the 49ers, the unit is 24th in the NFL in scoring, 30th in rushing speed and 27th in efficiency in the red area. The “offense” was dealt a blow on Sunday as the Pro Bowl ran again Dalvin Cook torn labrum, according to CBS Sports NFL insider Jason La Canfora.