What will happen to Adrian Peterson and when?

Adrian Peterson addresses media.
Defense attorney Rusty Hardin, left, and Adrian Peterson speak to the media after Peterson plead "no contest" to a lesser misdemeanor charge of reckless assault on Nov. 4 in Texas.
Bob Levey / Getty Images

Vikings running back Adrian Peterson, who has been sidelined since shortly after facing child abuse accusations in September, will likely see some sort of resolution in coming weeks.

The NFL Players Association is pressuring the league to immediately reinstate Peterson, who plead "no contest" last week to a misdemeanor charge of recklessly injuring his 4-year-old son.

Minneapolis-based writer Ben Goessling, who covers the Vikings for ESPN, told MPR's Phil Picardi that the league has to hear the union's grievance within seven days, and an arbiter has to make a decision on that grievance within five days of that.

"The NFL can suspend Peterson further, they can put him back on the roster, at which point the Vikings will have to decide what to do with them," Goessling said. "We should be getting a resolution sometime in the near future."

Goessling said a lot of the more vocal Vikings fans have supported reinstating Peterson with a large fine. But the fallout following Peterson's indictment could create a difficult decision for the Vikings even if Peterson is reinstated by the league.

"The Vikings, if you remember, had initially said they're going to let Peterson play after this," Goessling said. "The reaction to that was so sharp and so visceral that they eventually decided, 'We can't do this.'"

The team is set to play the Chicago Bears this weekend.

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