In a rare Wednesday morning press conference in which the head coach somewhat entertained questions about injured players, Mike Zimmer didn’t rule out the return of Adrian Peterson (knee) and Harrison Smith (ankle).
Peterson has been on the injured reserve since hurting his knee Week 2 versus the Green Bay Packers and has been on a trajectory to return either Sunday versus Indianapolis or Dec. 24 against Green Bay, according to multiple reports. “We’ll see,” said Zimmer about Peterson’s status. It wouldn’t be entirely surprising to see Peterson on the field Sunday based on his propensity to heal quickly from knee injuries, as he did prior to the 2012 season.
Peterson practiced Wednesday with a brace on his right knee and was listed under the “Designated to Return” category on the team’s official roster handout.
Peterson doing an agility drill. He’s the second one to go in the video. pic.twitter.com/XIXmSm4gxd
— Sam Ekstrom (@SamEkstrom) December 14, 2016
The news about Smith was more surprising after a Pioneer Press report declared Smith’s season “in doubt” after he supposedly suffered a serious Grade 3 high ankle sprain. This news broke five days after Smith was seen on crutches and in a walking boot following the team’s loss against Dallas.
The report did say Smith would be evaluated week to week and that the starting safety may put off surgery, which left room for his return, but Zimmer stated his displeasure with the report on Wednesday. “There’s a possibility [he could play], yeah,” said Zimmer, “even though the report was erroneous from before, but yeah, he’s doing good.”
Smith was not seen at the open portion of practice on Wednesday.
It’s entirely possible Zimmer is looking to throw the Indianapolis Colts for a loop with merely the potential of Peterson and Smith’s return and make the Colts prepare for both scenarios, meaning their status may not be revealed until very late in the week or even just before game time.
Zimmer has been known to play some tricks with injury talk in the past, so this may be just another misdirection.
