Adrian Peterson's defense attorney said Tuesday that his client will plead not guilty to child abuse charges during a Wednesday court appearance in Montgomery County, Texas.

A spokeswoman for attorney Rusty Hardin also told ESPN.com that Peterson intends to plead not guilty to charges of reckless or negligent injury to a child.

The court appearance is scheduled for 9 a.m. Wednesday.

Mary Flood, a spokeswoman for Hardin, told ESPN.com in an email: "If the court asks for a plea tomorrow [and we do expect that to happen], it will very definitely be NOT guilty. We hope that a trial date is also discussed but don't yet know how the court's docket is looking."

Peterson has been on the National Football League commissioner's "exempt list" since Sept. 17 as a result of the charges he faces following reports that he used a switch to discipline his 4-year-old son earlier this year. The boy was visiting Peterson from Minnesota.

According to records examined by the Star Tribune, Peterson has fathered at least six children out of wedlock. Two of them, a boy and a girl, were born to different mothers a month apart in May and June 2010, according to birth records.

Peterson was married earlier this year.