Lions Commit to Veteran Adrian Peterson as their Main Running Back

Adrian Peterson with Cardinals in 2017
Adrian Peterson with Cardinals in 2017. Photo by Trask Smith/CSM/REX/Shutterstock

Despite entering his 14th season as a pro, veteran running back Adrian Peterson isn’t showing signs of slowing down. Peterson shouldered a major part of the run-game in the first three weeks of the season for Detroit Lions, and it appears now that he already established himself as the team’s main back for the rest of 2020.

Speaking about Peterson on Tuesday, Lions’ offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell told reporters that he counts on the 35-year-old veteran to have an advantage over the rest of the RB group.

“It’s not anything that those guys are or aren’t doing,” said Bevell. “We’re just trying to, again, accentuate their positives and put them in positions to be successful.”

Peterson opened the season with a 93 rushing yards performance against Chicago Bears in Week 1, despite playing just 31 percent of snaps on offense. His snap count spiked to 60 percent in Week 3, when he rushed for another 75 yards against Green Bay Packers while adding one reception for 10 yards.

Asked about the possibility of managing Peterson’s workload, Bevell said that he will rely on the player to tell him when he needs to get some rest.

“He wants [the ball], we want him to have it, and we’ll just keep continuing to go there and spell him with Kerryon, spell him with Swift and kind of go from there,” he added.

Adrian Peterson found himself in a similar situation in 2018 when he arrived to Washington as a depth piece but ended up emerging as the organization’s lead back and rushing for 1,940 yards and 13 touchdowns in two years. Peterson expected to have an important role in Washington in 2020, but the team decided to turn to younger players and released him shortly after training camp wrapped up.