"I'm listening to them bash the Mavs," Stoops said of the Dallas Mavericks, who trailed the upstart Golden State Warriors 3-1 before Tuesday's fifth game in the NBA playoffs.

Stoops also did a little bashing. Oklahoma's football coach shot back at critics who questioned his decision to play Adrian Peterson in the Fiesta Bowl, and a national newspaper that Stoops feels has misrepresented the facts about Rufus Alexander.

The Minnesota Vikings selected both OU players in last weekend's NFL draft. But not before they were scrutinized by the media.

Four days before Peterson was the seventh overall selection, SI.com reported that the former Sooner running back had reinjured his right collarbone in OU's loss to Boise State last January. That news brought questions about if Stoops should have held Peterson out of the Jan. 1 bowl game.

"He was ready to play, according to the doctors and everybody else," Stoops said. "And he wanted to play."

Peterson, who finished runner-up in the Heisman Trophy race his freshman season at OU, had hoped to return for the Big 12 Championship game against Nebraska on Dec. 2. But Stoops declined to rush the process, even though he indicated at the time the option was there.

"He's close," Stoops said the Tuesday before OU whipped the Huskers in Kansas City, Mo. "He could be cleared to play."

Stoops said he didn't learn until weeks later that Peterson had been hurt in the Fiesta Bowl. Peterson told Sooners Illustrated that he didn't realize anything was wrong until an X-ray revealed the problem about six weeks after the game in Glendale, Ariz.

Even before the Vikings made Peterson an instant multi-millionaire (at least $26 million) with the seventh pick, Stoops said he never second-guessed his decision to play Peterson. Peterson had broken the collarbone while scoring a touchdown against Iowa State on Oct. 14.

"Listen, the kid wanted to play," Stoops said. "He was cleared to play. So, in the end, what are you going to do? Are you going to say, 'No, you can't?' "

"And it isn't like he had another break."

The SI.com story, citing a "high-level source" on one NFL team, said that club's analysis was that Peterson had reinjured the shoulder to the point he would require additional surgery and be sidelined two to three months. Other stories said Peterson needed a plate inserted to aid in the healing process, which would make him questionable for the preseason.

"No, no, no," Stoops said. "Minnesota (officials) said they don't need to do anything.

"Everybody has their opinion on what needs to be done. Minnesota said they didn't feel that they needed to do that."

Peterson has been cleared for Minnesota's rookie mini-camp this weekend. The Minneapolis Star-Tribune reported the "Vikings want to monitor the healing process for a longer time period before making a final determination."

On the second day of the draft, Minnesota selected Alexander in the sixth round with the 176th overall pick. The OU linebacker had been projected as a second- or third-round selection by some NFL draft rating services.

Stoops said there could be a variety of reasons why Alexan der's stocked dropped. But he said Alexander's slide had nothing to do with questions about his character.

In a second story about off-the-field issues hurting some players in the draft, a national newspaper reported Tuesday that a study of its list of those "100 prospects who drew scrutiny because of conduct issues indicates a couple (Rufus Alexander and Tarrell Brown) slipped significantly."

Alexander was arrested last October for disturbing the peace and interfering with police officers. Those charges were dropped when it was learned Alexander was attempting to be a peacemaker.

"All Rufus did was break up a fight between a buddy and another guy," Stoops said. "That kid is a model kid."

Alexander's problems were that scouts decided he had a mediocre senior season and that he tested poorly in the NFL combine. He ran a 4.8 in the 40-yard dash, and films of last season revealed a dropoff from his junior season.

In the newspaper's predraft story, Alexander's name was included with players who faced charges ranging from weapon and marijuana possession, to failed drug tests and sexual assault.

"They had him in there with all these guys with major (criminal charges) like he's part of that story. And every (charge) against him was dropped," Stoops said. "Rufus was never in any trouble. He never had an issue at Oklahoma.

"And yet that (Tuesday) article insinuates that's part of the reason why he dropped. It's horrible."