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Teammates Say They Stand Behind Adrian Peterson

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Adrian Peterson issued a statement and was at the team facility Monday, but was not in the locker room to elaborate.

His teammates, however, did.

"When I seen him today I told him that I'm just happy to have him back," receiver Jarius Wright said.

Fullback Jerome Felton echoed that sentiment.

"I think you'll get a lot of support for Adrian in here," he said, "just because we know what type of person he is."

Wright defended Peterson's actions.

"Me, personally?" Wright said. "He didn't do anything wrong."

In a packed locker room, every Vikings player who made himself available for interviews Monday expressed support for Peterson.

Some of that came from personal experience. Felton said he was subject to the same type of punishment as a child.

"I'm from the south," Felton said, "so I probably got it a little worse than that growing up. But I guess people have different opinions and you'll have to judge for yourself. But yeah, I've obviously probably had it a couple times, and it's maybe a little more common down there, than up here.

"I mean, I feel like I'm a better person for it. You know, I had direction under my family. My mother cared about me a lot. And I know people that didn't have parents that cared, didn't discipline them, and turned out a lot different than I did. So it's a personal judgment, and some people will like it, some people won't. So that's just on them."

Some players were more impassioned than others when asked if activating Peterson was the right decision.

"Um, they [the ownership] felt it was," Felton said. "So, obviously, I'm going with the team, and I'm glad to have him back."

Harrison Smith said he didn't know much about it, but he's going to support his teammate.

"And whatever the Wilfs decide to do, whatever coach decides to do, you know, obviously I'm going to roll with it," he said.

Vikings players really have no other choice.

But they will now have to play through intense public scrutiny and attention, both here in the Twin Cities and nationally. It's hard to image this not being a distraction, but players said it's their job to be a professional and adapt, just like any other situation.

"We'll play football," Felton said. "And we'll have a tough road ahead. We're going to play Drew Brees and the Saints in New Orleans, so we've got all our attention focused on that. And obviously there will be more media attention -- there's more media here than I've seen in a long time, so it'll be a little bit different. But it comes down to playing football."

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