Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson missed all but one game last season due to suspension, but his light workload against the San Francisco 49ers had nothing to do with his long layoff. Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer spoke to reporters in a teleconference about Peterson's surprisingly small role last week and revealed that it was a result of game flow.
"You're always trying to get the ball to your best player," Zimmer said. "But sometimes game situations dictate other things that happen, so it's just the way that games go sometimes, I think."
Peterson carried the ball just 10 times and finished the night with 13 total touches. Although the Vikings were playing from behind, it was surprising to see Peterson so uninvolved. Overall, Minnesota scored just three points (lowest in the NFL last week) and produced just 248 total yards of offense.
"After last week, we didn't do very well offensively," Zimmer said. "But we're hoping that it brings another dimension to us as far as explosive in the running game."
The former MVP-winning running back finished with 31 rushing yards and 21 receiving yards. Zimmer chalked up some of his struggles to being over-aggressive in his first NFL game in 53 weeks. Quarterback Teddy Bridgewater doesn't believe the problem will linger for much longer.
"Of course. You can't judge him off of one game. He's a guy who's going to continue to just play a huge role in our success as a team. He's going to be a huge part of this offense and we can't wait to get him going."
The Vikings will host the Detroit Lions in Peterson's first home game in a year this Sunday.
