By Mark Maske
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Minnesota Vikings rookie tailback Adrian Peterson has a torn ligament in his right knee and will miss at least one game, Coach Brad Childress announced yesterday.

Peterson tore his lateral collateral ligament during Sunday's loss to the Green Bay Packers, Childress said during a news conference. He said that Peterson won't play this weekend against the Oakland Raiders but declined to say how long he'll be sidelined.

Childress said the injury would not require surgery and is not season-ending, as a tear to the anterior cruciate ligament would be, but he hesitated to offer a timetable for the running back's return to the lineup. Childress called the tear a "two-plus" on a scale of one to three, with three being a complete tear.

"The good news is that the knee is otherwise stable and the injury is isolated to that ligament," Childress said.

Peterson remains the NFL's rushing leader with 1,081 yards despite managing only 45 yards in the 34-0 loss to the Packers. He had run for 296 yards, the single-game NFL record, the previous weekend against the San Diego Chargers and had crept into discussions about being a candidate for the league's most valuable player award as well as rookie of the year.

Chester Taylor, a 1,200-yard rusher last season who began this season as the starter but had faded into the background in recent weeks, likely will return to the starting role in Peterson's absence.

Packers quarterback Brett Favre was back to normal a day after taking a hard hit against the Vikings. "I just checked on him, he checked out fine," Packers Coach Mike McCarthy said. "He's not even on the medical list."

He took a hard hit late in the third quarter. Vikings defensive end Kenechi Udeze caught Favre's head and jarred his neck as Favre tried to slide for a short gain. Udeze received a 15-yard personal foul penalty on the play and Favre, in his 246th consecutive start, stayed down for a moment, but remained in the game.

"It was legit," Favre said after the game. "I had people say, 'Man, good job baiting them into the call.' I can find better ways to draw the call. . . . I was conscious of what was going on, but I was a little woozy." . . .

The Indianapolis Colts claimed defensive end Simeon Rice off waivers. He'd been released by the Denver Broncos. The Colts need help at the position because they're uncertain how long defensive end Dwight Freeney will be sidelined by the foot injury he suffered during Sunday night's loss at San Diego. . . . Coach Herman Edwards announced that the Kansas City Chiefs are making a starting quarterback switch from Damon Huard to Brodie Croyle. Huard played well last season as a fill-in starter for Trent Green and took over as the starter this season after Green was traded to the Dolphins. But now Edwards is turning to Croyle to try to jump-start the team's struggling offense. . . .

Because of the Veteran's Day holiday, animal rights groups were given an additional day to apply to take custody of the dogs seized from the property of suspended Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick. Rescue groups must send applications to a court-appointed guardian of the dogs by today.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.