SAUCIER, Miss. — Adam Thielen will miss Sundays.

They all do. From the starting quarterback to the backup punter. There is nothing like it — and nothing that can ever replace it. As time goes on, they find ways to adjust, some adjusting better than others, some never adjusting at all.

That shouldn’t, however, be a problem for Thielen, 35, a former wide receiver who played the bulk of his 13-year career with the Minnesota Vikings. Three months since catching his last football, as a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers, he is looking ahead, not behind.

To other challenges.

“I feel really good,” he said during a break in the rain-interrupted second round of this week’s PRO tour event at Fallen Oak, about 25 miles from Biloxi. “I gave everything I had to my career and therefore have zero regrets. And that was my whole goal.”

One of those challenges includes golf.

Thielen, who played in high school — in 2008, he helped lead his team in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota to a state championship in its division—is ready for the grind the game demands. And playing that long in the NFL, he knows a lot about grinds.

“I’m going to drop my kids off at school and hit the range,” he said. “I’ll use the stuff in my house. I got a simulator, and a green in my backyard. I feel I can give some energy to this game. I haven’t been able to do that quite yet.”

It would be foolish to doubt him. Not after what he overcame.

After playing college football for Minnesota State, he wasn’t selected in the 2013 NFL Draft.

Was he disappointed? Perhaps a bit. But he didn’t stay down for long. There was too much work to do.

A week later, he found himself in the Vikings’ rookie camp. Where the odds were definitely against him sticking around.

“I went to the Vikings,” he said, “and never left.”

A two-time All-Pro, he finished with 704 receptions, which included 64 touchdowns. He had eight straight games with at least 100 yards receiving, tying Calvin

Johnson, an NFL record.

The time came, as it does for everyone, when he realized the end was coming — if perhaps a little sooner than he might have anticipated.

“The last couple of years,” he said, “I started to feel burned out for the first time in my life and that was probably a pretty good indicator. It’s a grind all year round. Even in the off season.”

Strangely enough, it wasn’t his body that let him down.

“My body feels great,” Thielen said, “and that’s probably been the hardest part the last few years. I felt like I could still do it like I did five, 10 years ago.”

Still, it was difficult to say goodbye. His last game was on January 12, the Steelers losing to the Houston Texans, 30-6, in an AFC Wild Card playoff game.

“There were a lot of emotions,” he said. “Part of it was, thank you Lord for keeping me healthy and safe and getting me out of my career in a really good place.

The other side knowing it was tough that I’m not going to be in this locker room again competing. There is no better feeling than game day.”