Updated

Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson had groin surgery Thursday and is expected to spend the next six weeks recovering.

The Vikings said the operation went as planned, in Philadelphia by Dr. William Meyers.

Peterson rushed for 1,266 yards in 14 games, missing two in December due to a sprained right foot. The groin muscle had been bothering him for much of the season.

This was Peterson's third, though least invasive, surgery in the last 25 months. He had anterior cruciate and medial collateral ligament reconstruction in his left knee in December 2011. Then, after rushing for 2,097 yards and winning the NFL MVP award, Peterson had a procedure done in February 2013 to repair a sports hernia in his abdomen. Meyers performed that surgery, too.