Oklahoma Sooners Football: Sooners in the NFL - Adrian Peterson traded, Sam Bradford hurt, Joe Mixon finds the end zone

A Monday Night Football matchup against the Bears set up a second chance for Sam Bradford to showcase his mastership of the new-look Vikings offense, but it soon unfortunately unraveled into the usual injury-plagued outing for the former Oklahoma Sooners Heisman winner.

Bradford and the Vikings were without standout rookie running back Dalvin Cook, whose season came to premature end last week with a knee injury. With the play-action game once again in shambles in the first half on the road in Chicago, Bradford found himself in familiar territory — scrambling for his dear life with a still-injured knee. He may have been rushed back too soon and that showed right away. Even RG3 took notice:

Sacked four times and under constant pressure in the first half with most of us wanting to look away, Sammy B went 5-11 for 36 yards before being forced to leave the game just prior to halftime. He was clearly hobbled with no mobility, and it was a tough sight for any OU fan. Replacing Bradford for the fourth straight game, Case Keenum drove the team to a close victory against their divisional rivals.

With Teddy Bridgewater potentially returning in a few weeks and Bradford’s body just never giving him a long enough respite from interruption, things again look a bit muddled for Sam, and it’s hard to tell just how this season turns out for our guy in Minny. Lucky to avoid serious re-injury, if Bradford can get healthy this season then this team could still challenge for a playoff berth. But a very tough NFC North and a beaten-up core could ultimately mean the same ol’, same ol’ for Sammy and the Vikings at the end of this year. Sigh.

On another note, Bradford’s former teammate and Bob Stoops’ greatest running back ever at Oklahoma, Adrian Peterson, is with a new team for the second time in a few months. The former NFL rushing champ and league MVP is headed to Arizona after a disappointing stay in New Orleans through Week 5. The Cardinals are still without starter David Johnson and could be more receptive to giving AD more than FIVE F’ING CARRIES A GAME!

To celebrate AD getting another chance to start over in 2017, here’s a highlight reel of some of his best moments. I’m not sure how much he truly has left in the tank, but here’s to hoping he’s an actual part of Bruce Arians’ offense in Arizona.

Speaking of former standout OU running backs, Bengals rookie Joe Mixon finally found the end zone in his young NFL career. Joe finished with 15 carries for 51 yards and the score in the Bengals over the Bills.

Mixon has come to look more comfortable in the offense in Cincinnati under the direction of new coordinator Bill Lazor. In the last three games, the Bengals have gone 2-1 with Mixon’s averaging 19 touches per game in that span, increasing from just 21 touches through the first two games combined. Cincy Jungle feels Mixon’s expanding role in the offense and as an NFL rusher is a big reason for the team’s turnaround from that dismal 0-2 start.

DeMarco Murray continued his quiet season with 14 rushes for 58 yards and a fumble along with four catches for 11 yards in a loss against the Dolphins. Kenny Stills caught one pass for 13 yards, and Damien Williams rushed three times for 15 yards, adding a reception for 13 yards, on the other side for Miami.

Sterling Shepard, who finished with a reception for nine yards in a loss against the Chargers, was a part of the Giants wide receiver trio to go down with an injury on Sunday. The G-Men lost Odell Beckham Jr. and Brandon Marshall for the season, and before Shep went down it looked like he would benefit most from the extra looks from Eli Manning in the coming weeks. The Giants’ season continues to barrel downhill, however, and let’s hope Shep can bounce back stronger upon his expected return.

Aaron Ripkowski got a carry for two yards in the Packers win against the Cowboys.

Jermaine Gresham caught two passes for 16 yards in the Cardinals loss in Philadelphia to the NFC-East-leading Eagles.

On the defensive side…

Aaron Colvin made some real noise against struggling Big Ben and the Steelers on Sunday, registering a game-high 10 tackles including one for loss as the Jaguars continue piling on surprise blowout wins behind an elite defense (it is 2017, after all, so yep, of course).

Tony Jefferson grabbed four tackles and a sack in the Ravens win against the Raiders.

Devante Bond is now a starter on the Tampa Bay defense alongside All-Pro Gerald McCoy, and finished with two tackles in last Thursday’s win against the Patriots as stud linebackers Kwon Alexander and Lavonte David continue to sit out with injury. Speaking of McCoy, one of my favorite Sooners of all-time, his four tackles, one sack and one pass break-up against the Pats continue to add to another solid season on his way to (hopefully) a sixth-straight Pro Bowl.

These Sooners also saw action for their respective teams this weekend:

(*denotes starter)

Blake Bell (TE- Vikings), Jordan Evans (LB - Bengals), James Hanna (TE - Cowboys), *Lane Johnson (RT - Eagles), David King (DE - Titans), *Daryl Williams (RG - Panthers), James Winchester (LS - Chiefs)

The following Sooners were inactive, on bye weeks or did not play in Week 5:

Dominique Alexander (LB - Browns), Landry Jones (QB - Steelers), Stacy McGee (DE - Washington, Bye Week) Corey Nelson (LB - Broncos, Bye Week), Samaje Perine (RB - Washington, Bye Week), Adrian Peterson (RB - Saints, Bye Week) Jordan Phillips (DT - Dolphins), Donald Stephenson (RT - Broncos, Bye Week), Charles Tapper (DE - Cowboys), *Tress Way (P - Washington), Dede Westbrook (WR - Jaguars, IR), *Trent Williams (LT - Washington)