From the moment Adrian Peterson played his first game in the NFL on Sept. 9 of 2007, he hit the ground running.
The Vikings halfback ran for 607 yards in his first five starts for the Vikings.
On Sunday, Minnesota faces a running back that is having some similar success in his first season.
St. Louis Rams rookie Todd Gurley has already amassed 566 rushing yards in his first four starts and has been drawing comparisons to his veteran counterpart.
Here's what Vikings and Rams players and coaches had to say about Gurley's abilities, as well as preparing for each on Sunday.
1. Rams running back Todd Gurley on playing against Peterson:
"Obviously a guy who's as great as him, everybody's going to look at him and model their game after him. There's only one AP and like you said he's the gold standard, so yea you can consider him as the best (running back)."
*2. Adrian Peterson on the comparisons to Gurley: *
"I have seen some tape on him and he reminds me a lot of myself. Strong guy, he runs fast, he's physical, he has great feet, he has great vision, nice balance and just the determination he runs with you don't see a lot of running backs that run that way. He's a young great talent in my eyes."
3. **Rams safety T.J. McDonald on the challenges of facing Adrian Peterson:
**
"You have to double Adrian Peterson. He's a tough running back, if not the best running back year in and year out. I know he's going to come out and try to make a statement with what Todd Gurley has been doing the last few weeks and we're ready for it."
4. Vikings defensive end Brian Robison on facing Gurley:
"Well I think he makes some aggressive cuts. You see him hit the hole when he makes cuts out of the hole. He's got enough speed when he gets to the second level he can out-run guys. He's kind of a one cut guy that hits the role and hits it hard."
5. Vikings Defensive Coordinator George Edwards on preparing his defense for Gurley:
"He's an explosive runner. He's got excellent vision. When he hits the line of scrimmage he hits it at full speed and he's got the acceleration once her gets to the second level to go the distance."
6. Vikings safety Harrison Smith on the Gurley-Peterson comparisons:
"I've seen there's been some comparisons to Adrian. Especially at a young age and coming of the ACL injury that he has. And shown all of this production he's able to do so recently after surgery. He making a lot of explosive runs, breaking, tackles so we have our hands full with him."
7. Jeff Fisher on not being able to compare Gurley to anyone:
"He's a pleasure. He's going to be special and that's the only way that I can describe him. I can't compare him to anybody. Anyone that I have played with, or anybody that I have coached, coached along with or anyone I have defended. He's just different. This is Rams against Vikings, not Adrian Peterson against Todd Gurley...we'll see what happens."
