Adrian Peterson may not be playing the rest of the year but he’s planning a comeback.

The Arizona Cardinals are placing Peterson on IR because of a neck injury. Peterson's season is over a day after coach Bruce Arians said he wasn't sure whether Peterson would return from the injury he suffered on Nov. 26 against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Peterson played four games with the New Orleans Saints to open the season and appeared in six more with Arizona.

"The good news is my neck injury doesn't require surgery, but I'm told by Dr. Robert Watkins that the best thing for me is just more rest than the length of this season," Peterson's statement read.

"Obviously, I'm disappointed about going on IR when my body is still able to produce, but I look forward to returning completely healthy for another season in 2018.

I'm grateful for the opportunity that the Arizona Cardinals have given me to show that I can still contribute to a an NFL team."

All told, Peterson piled up 129 carries for 448 yards and two touchdowns in six games before he was shut down for the season.

Injuries have been a recurring theme in Peterson's career. He missed 11 games last season because of a torn meniscus and also sat out games in 2013, 2011, 2010 and 2007 because of injuries.

He played college football at Oklahoma and was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings seventh overall in the 2007 NFL Draft. Peterson set the NCAA freshman rushing record with 1,925 yards as a true freshman during the 2004 season.

In 2012, Peterson became the sixth fastest player to reach 8,000 rushing yards, ending the season with 2,097 rushing yards, just nine yards shy of breaking Eric Dickerson's single season all-time record.


During the 2013 season, Peterson became the third fastest player to reach 10,000 rushing yards in NFL history.