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NFL NOTES
Peterson has hernia surgery ASSOCIATED PRESS,
Adrian Peterson put up one of the best seasons by a running back in NFL history to run away with the MVP award.
Now imagine what he could do if he was actually fully healthy.
Peterson had surgery on Thursday to repair a sports hernia in his abdomen, an injury that bothered him for much of the last month of the season while he came up just 8 yards short of Eric Dickerson's single-season rushing record.
It was an incredible season nonetheless considering he had surgery to repair two torn ligaments in his left knee the previous December.
In the final few weeks of the season, Peterson acknowledged playing through an abdominal injury, but never let on just how much it was bothering him.
On Thursday, the Vikings disclosed he had undergone surgery in Philadelphia to repair the hernia.
"We expect a speedy recovery with no long-term concerns," the team said in a statement on its website.
Considering Peterson recovered from a significant knee injury faster than anyone can ever remember a running back doing so, bouncing back from his latest procedure shouldn't slow him down too much.
Peterson tore his ACL against the Redskins in December 2011, then set to work on a rehab program that surprised almost everyone in getting him back on the field for the season opener in 2012.
He was somewhat limited in his first few weeks of the season, still working to get the scar tissue to break up and restore the flexion and cutting ability in his knee.
But once he broke loose, he was nearly unstoppable. Peterson topped 200 yards twice in the final five weeks of the season and hit 199 in the season-ending victory over the Green Bay Packers that carried the Vikings into the playoffs.
His recovery, coupled with the playoff berth and 2,097 yards rushing, helped Peterson easily win the MVP award over Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning. He was also selected the league's offensive player of the year in a season in which he scored 12 touchdowns, had eight runs of 40 yards or more and averaged 6.0 yards per carry.
Bills, Jones part: Buffalo is cutting ties with receiver Donald Jones by allowing him to become a free agent after declining to tender the third-year player a contract offer.
"We have made the decision to not re-sign Donald. We're going in a different direction," GM Buddy Nix said in a statement released by the team. "And this move today gives Donald the opportunity to catch on with another team early in the process."
Jones will now be eligible to become an unrestricted free agent on March 12.
Lions cut Young: The Detroit Lions have wasted little time reshaping their roster, hoping to get the franchise back in the right direction after it took a step back last season.
Detroit cut Titus Young, a second-round pick two years ago, and released two veteran starters, Kyle Vanden Bosch and guard Stephen Peterman, from both sides of the line.
"We need to make changes," GM Martin Mayhew said. "Obviously, things aren't going in the right direction."
The Lions lost the last eight games of the season, plummeting to a 4-12 record, a year after they were in the playoffs for the first time since the 1999 season.
Grantham talks with Saints: A day after Todd Grantham helped welcome a new class of Georgia recruits, the defensive coordinator interviewed for the same job with the New Orleans Saints.
The NFL team said Grantham met Thursday with head coach Sean Payton but had no additional comment on the search to replace Steve Spagnuolo, who was fired last month after the Saints gave up more yards than any team in NFL history.
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