Minnesota Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer reiterated his support for running back Adrian Peterson on Tuesday, telling reporters he plans to push the team to bring him back next season.

"Well, as I've said many, many times, Adrian was always great with me," Zimmer said during his season-ending news conference. "I think he's a good person. I think obviously he's a great running back and if it works out that way and things work out and he gets his life in order - that's the most important thing, he gets his life in order, he gets the opportunity to come back - then I will be in his corner whenever the decision is made."

Peterson was suspended by the NFL in November after pleading no contest to misdemeanor reckless assault for disciplining his four-year-old son with a wooden switch. He will be eligible for reinstatement April 15, providing he adheres to the terms of his suspension.

Peterson carries a hefty cap hit of $15.4 million next season and has said he sees no reason to restructure his contract, which means the Vikings must decide whether he is worth keeping on their roster. There's also the matter of how soon he can reach a resolution with the league.

"Our hands our partly tied with the NFL and the time frame that they give us. But also it's partly up to Adrian to do what he needs to do in order to get back reinstated off the suspension," Zimmer said.

"So those are all factors that we have to factor in, but we would love to know ASAP just so that we can start going because a guy like him your football team and your offense can be different (if) you have him and you don't have him. It's how you want to build the team around him, at least in my opinion anyway."

Zimmer said he plans to meet with general manager Rick Spielman at some point to discuss Peterson as well.

"I haven't talked to Rick about a lot of these questions that you're asking yet because we just finished the season," he said. "But we'll sit down and (talk) about all of this stuff."