Adrian Peterson is thriving, comfortable with sporadic role in Detroit’s backfield

ALLEN PARK — Adrian Peterson might not be the every-down back he once was, but he sounds more than comfortable in his role with the Detroit Lions.

Peterson, 35, came blazing out of the gates with 93 yards on 14 carries with three catches and 21 yards in the opener. His 114 yards from scrimmage in his debut led the team. The veteran’s role was reduced this past Sunday in Green Bay, though, seeing only seven carries for 41 yards in the loss. Peterson still ripped off a 25-yard run in limited action, his longest of the season. The 35-year-old is in a three-way tie for the second-most explosive runs (10-plus yards) in the league with six.

Peterson is splitting reps with two recent second-round picks in Kerryon Johnson and D’Andre Swift. He said he’s more than familiar and comfortable with staying ready.

“It’s not tough at all,” Peterson said via Zoom on Thursday. “You kind of flashback to that game (Week 2), I want to say was either late third quarter or fourth quarter, I was kind of on the sideline for a good period of time. And a third-and-one came up and my number was called. I went in there and picked up 6 yards. I’m a vet. I know how the situation is working out right now. For me, it is what it is. If it is four carries, I’m gonna take advantage of those four carries. If it’s four snaps, I’m going to take advantage of those four snaps, you know?

“All I can do is control what I can control, and that’s making sure that I’m prepared and ready to help this offense be productive when I’m out there.”

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Kerryon Johnson opened Detroit’s loss to Green Bay with five carries for 20 yards and a score on the opening drive. Swift was once again more effective in the passing attack, catching five passes for 60 yards.

There was still a pretty consistent split between the workload with Swift’s 20 snaps leading the way. Johnson was right behind him with 19 reps. Peterson played the least, coming on for 15 or 25% of the offensive plays. Peterson played four more snaps than Johnson in the opener, but the second-round rookie Swift has led the way in both games.

“But just kind of going back on last week, I felt good when I was out there, you know, my snaps were kind of limited,” Peterson said. “I think I had like seven carries, maybe 16, 17 plays. I know a lot of it had to do with us kind of falling behind, so that was unfortunate. But we started off good, you know, we started off, first two series running the ball well. We look balanced as an offense. And, you know, we just kind of kicked ourselves in the foot a couple of times and put ourselves in a position where we weren’t able to scratch back.

“That’s just something that we’ve got to learn from and not let that be something that continues.”

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Detroit’s rushing attack has been low-key effective, despite the team’s 0-2 start. Peterson was running hard into the fourth quarter in the opener, but then all hell broke loose. He never got into a groove this past weekend in Green Bay with the game taking a dark turn in the final two minutes of the first half.

Johnson has started both games, with Peterson getting his fair share of the work. Swift has looked to have a grip on passing downs, with Ty Johnson logging only five snaps to this point.

The Lions haven’t finished in the top half of the league in rushing in 22 years. That’s right, that’s since Barry Sanders hung them up. Detroit sits 18th heading into Week 3′s matchup in Arizona, averaging 113.5 rushing yards per game.

If Detroit can keep this one close, or avoid any wild fourth-quarter meltdowns, then the rushing attack has a chance here. The Cardinals are allowing 120 yards per game, putting them in the middle of the pack. Frank Ragnow is one of the elite run-blocking centers in the game, ranking as the second-best on the ground at his position through two weeks per Pro Football Focus. That never hurts.

Like a true veteran, Peterson made sure to give his offensive line props by saying that group “is not the issue” heading into Sunday’s game with the 2-0 Cardinals.

“It won’t be hard if the guys up front do their job and we have confidence in our guys,” Peterson said. “They have showed, two weeks in a row, they can hold the line of scrimmage, they can dominate up front. The offensive line is not the issue at all.

“These guys have got their hands full and they know that because they watch film, as well. It’s going to be a good challenge for those guys, but they’re up for it and we’re up for it. We know what we need to do to be productive as an offense and we just got to get it done. Simple as that.”

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