Sidney Rice expects to discard his crutches in about two weeks although the Vikings' No. 1 receiver remains uncertain when he would resume playing.
"It's still early," Rice said Monday as the Vikings returned to practice in preparation for Sunday's home opener against the Miami Dolphins. "At this point, I haven't set any dates, any goals. Just keep coming in every morning, working hard on my rehab and getting better every day."
Rice, who missed all of training camp, had surgery on his right hip Aug. 24 and was placed on the physically unable to perform list, which means he will not be eligible to play before Oct. 31 at New England.
The receiver does not feel any post-operative pain and could walk without crutches, which he is using to keep pressure off his healing hip.
"I'll be on these couple more weeks and hopefully after that, as soon as my muscles can get back up to firing, I'll be back there on the field," he said.
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