MINNEAPOLIS -- Only 48 hours earlier, Adrian Peterson had left the practice field with his Minnesota Vikings' teammates, preparing to build on the momentum of the opening week's big road win.
When Matt Cassel lined up for the opening snap on Sunday against the New England Patriots, the 2012 NFL MVP and franchise's all-time leading rusher wasn't even in the stadium.
Peterson's indictment on charges of injury to a child rocked the organization, which acted swiftly to deactivate the six-time Pro Bowl running back.
"It completely blindsided me, for sure," Cassel said after Minnesota's deflating 30-7 loss at home to New England.
All the revelry and excitement of the regular-season opener at home, combined with last week's resounding win at St. Louis, was replaced by another off-field concern for a team which has seen too many of them over the years.
Peterson's status as the face of the franchise is now in limbo. The allegations of him disciplining his son with a tree branch that emerged in Montgomery County, Texas put his future with the Vikings in doubt.
"It shocked us, but that's our friend and we have to execute without him," receiver Cordarrelle Patterson said.
Peterson showered and dressed in the locker room on Friday, with no signs he'd be making a late-night flight back home to Texas. The Montgomery Sheriff's office issued a warrant for Peterson's arrest. Peterson turned himself in at approximately 1 a.m. early Saturday morning, posted a $15,000 bond and was released.
Minnesota acted swiftly and declared Peterson out for Sunday's game on Friday evening. But the team he left behind was still dealing with the aftershock of the news and knowing it would be without its top running back in facing Bill Belichick and the Patriots.
"It's difficult," Fullback Jerome Felton said after Sunday's loss. "Obviously he's a big part of our team. Whenever you're missing that piece, it hurts. I know it's hurting him a lot. All we can do is support him."
Felton and many others reached out to Peterson. Felton, the fullback who led the way for Peterson's MVP season in 2012, exchanged text messages with Peterson.
"I sent him a message and said, 'I support you,'" Felton said. "Hopefully he can get through this and we'll move forward as a team."
No one knows, or is prepared to say, how long the Vikings are moving forward without Peterson.
"I just think we're trying to get through the weekend right now and figure out where everything is," coach Mike Zimmer said. "And again, I really don't want to talk about this. You guys can keep asking, but I'll give you the same answer: we'll talk about it next week."
Reports have said general manager Rick Spielman will address Peterson's status on Monday.
"We've got to go on and go about it," Zimmer said. "It's just part of life. Would we have liked to have him? Sure, but I think any time you lose your best player, it's a team game, everybody has to step up."
Matt Asiata, the understudy who finished last season strong in Peterson's place, started Sunday. He had 13 carries for 36 yards against New England, which had surrendered 191 yards rushing a week ago in a loss to Miami.
Asiata had a 25-yard touchdown catch on the first drive of the game, when it looked like Minnesota would be able to overcome Peterson's absence. But the momentum turned and Asiata admitted the team missed Peterson's presence on Sunday.
"Yeah, but we got to move forward," Asiata said. "It's not a one-man team. Play as a team, and just go out there and just play hard."
Zimmer was unwilling to blame the loss on Peterson's absence.
"No, it didn't affect the team," Zimmer said. "You know what affected the team? Throwing interceptions, getting a field goal blocked, not tackling well enough, having penalties on defense, that's what affected the team. The team is fine."
Many players avoided comment on Peterson's situation. Universally, Minnesota didn't want to blame a loss on being without its top running back.
"I think everyone was surprised with the circumstances surrounding the organization," tight end Kyle Rudolph said. "Once we came back in Saturday morning, it was time to go. We knew that it was going to be Jerick (McKinnon) and Matt and we still had the same plan moving forward, and we didn't execute that plan. It didn't matter who was back there today. If we made the mistakes that we made, you just can't overcome that when you're playing a team as good as the Patriots."
Zimmer is already facing his second off-field issue since becoming coach in January. While special teams coordinator Mike Priefer made homophobic remarks under the previous regime, Zimmer dealt with the fallout. Priefer served the second of his three-game suspension on Sunday, but could be reinstated this week by Vikings' ownership.
Meanwhile, Zimmer's team is without one of its best offensive playmakers.
"If you took the best player off of every team, it would have an impact, yes, of course," Zimmer said.
How extended the absence will be, is the next question for the organization to answer.
"There's nothing we can't do without Adrian," Patterson said. "We have to get the mindset that 28 won't be here with us, so we have to come in and do what we do best."
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