Week 8 - Redskins @ Vikings Support Group

On Tuesday, Keenum mostly shrugged off the play. He said it was “special” and “something I’ll remember forever, but not necessarily this week.”

Another former Vikings player was much more sentimental. Also facing the Vikings is running back Adrian Peterson, who starred for Minnesota from 2007-16 and is in his second season with the Redskins.

“Of course I want to play against Minnesota,” Peterson said. “I was there for 10 years, 98 percent of the guys on the defense, I played with those guys. It’s going to be exciting to get out there and compete against those guys.”

Peterson said he “would expect a good welcome” in his second Minnesota return but first as a significant contributor. After the Vikings chose not to re-sign Peterson as a free agent in 2017, he joined New Orleans and had just six carries for 18 yards in the season opener at U.S. Bank Stadium.

“It’s always been love (from Vikings fans),” Peterson said. “I was there for a decade and still to this day I have fans that follow me. I have fans that come to Redskins games that are die-hard Vikings fans because they’re Adrian Peterson fans.”

Peterson, 34, rushed for 1,042 yards last year, but had just 108 in the first five games this season, all losses. Since Jay Gruden was fired as coach and replaced on an interim basis by Bill Callahan, Peterson has run for 199 yards the past two games.

“Adrian had a great, great time here, tenure here,” said Vikings coach Mike Zimmer, who coached Peterson from 2014-16. “He’s a terrific runner, good teammate. Probably the best back they’ve ever had here.”

Zimmer also spoke well of Keenum, whose only season with the Vikings was 2017. He took over after starter Sam Bradford was hurt in the opener against the Saints, and helped lead the Vikings to the NFC Championship Game.

“Case did an awful lot for us here,” Zimmer said. “Case was a terrific teammate, he had an outstanding year. I think the confidence that he played with instilled the whole organization.”

After the 2017 season, the Redskins decided against another franchise tag and Cousins became a free agent, signing a fully guaranteed three-year, $84 million deal with the Vikings.

Now Thursday night’s stage is set with Cousins and Redskins quarterback Case Keenum — who led the Vikings to the 2017 NFC title game — reversing roles. They’ll face their former teams for the first time since the Vikings replaced Keenum with Cousins, giving him what he sought in stability, financial commitment and chances to win.

But with a short week, the NFL’s top-rated quarterback wasn’t talking about the change in scenery.

“That’s not something I need to get into,” Cousins said Tuesday. “It’s been well-documented, and it’s about trying to win a football game.”

Emotions will still run high on Thursday night; coach Mike Zimmer wants to guard against Cousins, an eighth-year pro, being overcome by natural emotions of beating a team that wouldn’t commit to him. He’ll face Washington as the NFL’s leader in passer rating (114.3) and yards per throw (9.1) through seven games.

“I’m going to talk to him a little bit [Tuesday] about some of those things,” Zimmer said. “He needs to just focus on his job, focus on getting guys in the right place and doing what he’s supposed to do. There’s always some emotions when you’re playing a team that you went against. I’m sure [former Vikings running back] Adrian [Peterson] and Case are doing the same thing, right? It’s more important that we focus on what we have to do and his job and what he has to do than worry about all the other things.”