Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson might not be 100 percent recovered from a high left ankle sprain, but he was feeling good enough to return to practice on Thursday.
Peterson's return, on a limited basis, marked the first time he has practiced since suffering the injury during a Week 11 loss to the Oakland Raiders.
That's clearly a step forward for the 2-10 Vikings and Peterson, who said the decision on when he's healthy enough to play is basically his.
"It was really encouraging to see some of the things he was able to do," Vikings coach Leslie Frazier said. "He's headed in the right direction, far more improved than he was a week ago."
The status of Christian Ponder remains unclear. Frazier said Wednesday the team would know more about the rookie quarterback's hip-pointer injury by Thursday, but Ponder was held out of practice for the second straight day. Frazier said "all indications" were that Ponder would start, but that depended on the rate of his improvement.
Frazier said the Vikings will try to put Ponder "through some paces" in practice Friday to determine if he'll be an option for Sunday's game. Offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave said he would lean against playing Ponder if he couldn't practice all week.
"He didn't look too good walking yesterday, so we'll just have to see if he continues to heal up as the week progresses," Musgrave said.
For now, at least, Ponder hasn't improved enough to practice. He was injured during last weekend's loss to the Denver Broncos, but played the whole game and finished 29-of-47 passing for 381 yards and three touchdowns with two interceptions. If Ponder isn't cleared to play, Joe Webb is in line to start for the Vikings.
The Vikings added wide receiver Percy Harvin to the injury report Thursday with a finger injury. Harvin tore a ligament in his finger while trying to brace himself during a fall in Wednesday's practice, but Frazier said he's fine.
The bigger concern is that Harvin was suffering from migraines last Saturday, a source close to the situation told the St. Paul Pioneer Press on Thursday. The symptoms were similar to Harvin's past struggles with migraines, according to the source, including bloodshot eyes and vomiting. Harvin was able to recover in time to play Sunday and catch eight passes for a career-high 156 yards and two touchdowns.
Cornerback Asher Allen (shoulder), linebacker Chad Greenway (elbow), defensive end Everson Griffen (quadriceps) and tight end Visanthe Shiancoe (hand) were all limited for a second straight day.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
