Minnesota Vikings defensive end Jared Allen said he'll wait until after the Pro Bowl to have surgery on his left shoulder to repair a torn labrum he's had for months.
"I've played with it all year. I'm going to at least enjoy the benefits of it, right?" Allen said Monday, joking that he aims to follow Adrian Peterson's rehab success: "Maybe I can get 2,000 sacks."
Peterson rushed for a league-best 2,097 yards after reconstructive surgery on his left knee in the offseason.
Allen, 30, said his injury was more of an annoyance than anything this season. He finished the season with 12 sacks and has 117 in his career.
Allen estimated that his rehabilitation after the surgery would last "a couple months," according to the Star Tribune. The Pro Bowl will be played Jan. 27 in Hawaii.
"Part of my game is an inside counter move, and I just didn't have the complete strength," Allen said, according to the Star Tribune. "There's a couple of times that I was sitting there watching the quarterback right there, and I'm just trying to get a couple of more inches of separation, which is the difference of a tackle where you get a hand on him versus wrapping him up."
Peterson, meanwhile, said he'd resume training in less than two weeks. He also said he'd like to gather as many teammates as he can near his Houston home before formal strength and conditioning begin in Minnesota in late April.
"I'm all in. I'm about to grind again this offseason and come back and be better than I was this year," Peterson said.
He's not even willing to take it easy in the Pro Bowl, where the collective effort of the all-stars is in short supply. Peterson has already served Eric Dickerson notice that he's coming for that single-season record again after falling 9 yards short. He's even raised the possibility of reaching the 2,500-yard mark, as unlikely as that might be.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.