Anthony Barr returned to practice today for the first time since a knee injury prematurely ended his season last November. While Barr was only able to participate in individual drills, coach Mike Zimmer thinks it is important that Barr got back on the field during this week’s minicamp.

“He’s got to get back to playing,” Zimmer said. “He hasn’t really done football in a long time. So it’s good for him to get back out here and start moving around and getting with the calls. I mean, I don’t anticipate any problems. I just think it’s good for his mindset and good for ours as well.”

Barr injured his knee in the team’s win over the Panthers in late November. After sitting out three games, Barr was placed on injured reserve prior to the season finale, officially ending his promising rookie campaign.

Both Zimmer and Barr have been mum about the nature of his current injury, but Zimmer has said it’s not the same knee that had sidelined him.

“I did the first 30 minutes of practice — more than I have done obviously this entire offseason,” Barr said. “It felt good to be out there.”

While the Vikings got good news with Barr’s return, the status quo remains with offensive tackle Phil Loadholt and defensive end Brian Robison, who continue to be held out of team drills due to pectoral injuries.

Loadholt, who tore his pectoral in November, is expected to be ready to roll by training camp. But Robison, who injured his earlier this spring, said today that he isn’t sure if he will be a full-go by the start of camp.

“We’ll just see how it goes,” Robison said. “Obviously I got to be smart with it. But at the end of the day, I plan on being there, plan on getting back on the field as quick as possible. We’re just going to take it day by day and keep going as we’re going."

Cornerbacks Captain Munnerlyn (foot) and Josh Robinson (undisclosed) did not practice today. Neither did fellow cornerback DeMarcus Van Dyke and linebackers Michael Mauti and Casey Matthews (all undisclosed, too).

“We’d obviously like to have everybody out here for practice all the time but it’s really not possible with some of the guys at this point,” Zimmer said.