AP suspension surprise?

When Adrian Peterson was suspended for the rest of the season by the NFL, the Vikings released a short statement saying simply, "The NFL has informed the Vikings of today's decision regarding Adrian Peterson. We respect the league's decision and will have no further comment at this time."

Despite the innocuousness of that statement, though, the Vikings were surprised by the league's decision, according to Fox Sports' Jay Glazer.

Meanwhile, ESPN's Ed Werder reported that team owners Zygi and Mark Wilf and general manager Rick Spielman are involved in efforts to get Peterson back on the field this year, though ESPN's Adam Schefter reports that Vikings general counsel Kevin Warren has been working with the league to keep Peterson OFF the field.

Coach Mike Zimmer also reportedly believes that Peterson would prefer to return to the Vikings once the league reinstates him.

Will Adrian Peterson ever play in Minnesota again? (USATSI)

"I would love to go back and play in Minnesota to get a feel and just see if my family still feels comfortable there," Peterson told USA Today this week. "But if there's word out that hey, they might release me, then so be it. I would feel good knowing that I've given everything I had in me ...

"I would have to get back in the community and get a feel. know who loves me. The coaches and the players, it's not going to be a problem. I've felt so much support from those guys. The organization, I know there's people in the organization that support me and there's people that I know internally that has not been supporting me."

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Texans RB Arian Foster's chances of playing Sunday are 'very, very low'



ESPN's Texans reporter Tania Ganguli was asked Friday via Twitter what the chances are that running back Arian Foster will play Sunday against the Bengals. Her response: "Very, very low." As such, Foster, who has not played since Week 9 due to a groin injury, will likely be replaced in the starting lineup once again by Alfred Blue. The rookie did most of the heavy lifting for Houston out of its backfield against the Browns, rushing 36 times for 156 yards.



It all seemed so promising for Foster after head coach Bill O'Brien said following last week's win that he expected his star back to play in Week 12. Then he practiced on Wednesday of this week, and everyone was ready to roll with Foster again. Then there were back-to-back DNPs on Thursday and Friday and here we are. The team has said nothing about a setback, but you can't help but wonder, especially with an injury that is easy to aggravate (see: Montee Ball) and a player who has an extensive history of soft-tissue injuries.Blue is no Foster, but the good news is the Texans are obviously committed to the run and committed to Blue as their starter for the time being. He should see another large workload Sunday against a Bengals defense that has given up the third-most fantasy points per game to RBs and seven touchdowns to the position in its past five games.Jonathan Grimes got 13 carries last week, but that was based wholly on game flow. Grimes is just a chance-of-pace runner for the Texans and not a fantasy option.