Adrian Peterson reportedly inactive versus Eagles, setting stage for possible issue with Redskins
cbssportsAdrian Peterson is not a happy camper, and for a very clear reason.
When the Washington Redskins lost second-round pick Derrius Guice to a torn ACL last August that ended his NFL rookie year before it ever started, it was Peterson who stepped up and kept the ship afloat, despite the slew of quarterback injuries that ultimately derailed any hope of making it to the playoffs. With no definitive QB to key in on following the season-ending knee injury to Alex Smith, and with no dominant wide receiver to fear, all opposing defenses had to do was load up and stop Peterson — if they could. More often than not, they couldn’t, and the ageless All-Pro delivered 1,042 rushing yards and seven touchdowns in 16 starts.
Guice is now back in the mix, though, and the plan to give him a hefty chunk of the workload is understandable to a degree. He is the guy the team gave up a second-round pick for, after all, but what’s now occurring in Landover is catching many by surprise. The Redskins have reportedly opted to deactivate a healthy Peterson for their Week 1 battle with the Philadelphia Eagles, per Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, and this comes only months after the future Hall of Famer chose to re-sign with the club on a two-year deal worth $8 million.
That’s both a huge nod to Guice, and an equally large slap to the face of Peterson.
“We feel like [Guice] can be a first-, second- and even a third-down back,” head coach Jay Gruden going into Week 1, via The Washington Post. “I think the offense, carries wise, will probably go through him, pretty much.”
Ever the consummate pro, Peterson reminded everyone he can only control what he can control, and he’ll respect what comes outside of that.
“At the end of the day, I’m pleased to do what they ask me to do,” Peterson said. “That’s all I can do.”
Although set to be inactive, the fact he’s on the Redskins roster for Week 1 activates another $1 million in guaranteed money that adds to the $1.5 million he obtained for signing, but also puts both the veteran and the team in a weird space. There’s clearly traction remaining on Peterson’s tires — so much so he could and should arguably be, at minimum, the immediate backup to Guice — and he’ll now have to wonder what his workload in 2019 will look like, assuming it’ll be much at all. This also hints strongly at the possibility of a release in 2020, leaving Peterson to find another NFL home if he opts to not retire at that time.
That could be unlikely, hence the decision to sign a two-year deal this offseason, and not one for just a season. I asked Peterson in July of his timeline for retirement, and it didn’t sound like he had rubber stamped 2020 on his calendar.
“I don’t know, but God willing — three or four [more years],” he said. “We’ll see. It all depends on how I feel. I’m just taking it one year at a time.”
He didn’t know at the time just how true that last sentence would become.
With rumors now surfacing that the decision to sit Peterson didn’t go over well with other veterans in the Redskins locker room, per Mike Garofolo of NFL Network, time will tell how this all plays out both on the field and emotionally for a team that has already taken heat for how they’ve [mis]handled the medical situation and subsequent holdout of All-Pro left tackle Trent Williams. Peterson had been in touch with Williams at several points in the offseason and was the team’s key lobbyist in trying to get Williams back on the field for 2019.
Ironically, and unbeknownst to him, Peterson has now found himself concerned about his own future in Washington.
