As he enters his age-31 season, Vikings running back Adrian Peterson has no concerns about his body holding up over the long haul, he told Ben Goessling of ESPN.com. Peterson isn’t sure how much longer he’ll play, though, because of some of the tedious aspects that accompany playing in the NFL.
“Training camp, going through the grind, OTAs and all that — that will definitely be the deciding factor,” he said, adding “it’s so repetitive that it’s more suited toward the young guys and getting them into the system. It gets kind of boring.”
Peterson went on to cite the success he had previously without partaking in training camp, stating, “Think about this: The 2012 season [after recovering from ACL surgery], I didn’t do any training camp. But I was over there on the side, working out. You get that extra month of working out? Come on, man. I would much rather not participate in training camp and work out, just to have more of an edge.”
That year happened to be the best of Peterson’s career, as he earned the NFL MVP award after rushing for 2,097 yards – the second-highest single-season total ever – and 12 touchdowns. Peterson wasn’t quite that effective last season, but he once again led the league in rushing (1,485 yards, to go with 11 scores) en route to garnering first-team All-Pro honors for the fifth time.
More from the NFC North, which the Peterson-led Vikes won last season:
- When Bob Quinn took over as the Lions’ general manager in January, it was unclear whether he’d bring back head coach Jim Caldwell on the heels of a 7-9 season. After much deliberation, Quinn elected to go forward with Caldwell, who has helped Detroit to an 18-14 record and a playoff appearance in two years. Quinn told SiriusXM NFL Radio on Tuesday (via Justin Rogers of MLive.com) that retaining Caldwell “was the easiest and best decision I made,” citing the pair’s “great working relationship.”
- Now-retired receiver and potential Hall of Famer Calvin Johnson was instrumental in the majority of the Lions’ 18 wins from 2014-15, and it stands to reason his departure will leave a significant void in the team’s offense. Not so, says quarterback Matthew Stafford. “Obviously we used to feature Calvin, and everybody kind of got theirs after that. It’s going to be, I think, tougher for defenses in a certain way in that they don’t know who we’re going to. There’s no guy to key in on,” he told SiriusXM on Tuesday (per Michael Rothstein of ESPN.com). To help replace Johnson, who exited with 88 catches, 1,214 yards and nine touchdowns in 2015, the Lions signed ex-Bengal Marvin Jones to a $40MM deal. He and Golden Tate are unquestionably the Lions’ top two wideouts. After them, the club has offseason pickups Jeremy Kerley, Andre Roberts and Andre Caldwell among those vying for roles, as Roster Resource shows. The door is also still open on Detroit adding free agent Anquan Boldin, who visited with the team earlier this month.
- In case you missed it, the Bears and franchise wideout Alshon Jeffery are discussing a long-term contract.
Yeah Stafford it will be tough for defenses to decide what to do with the extra defensive players now that they won’t have to double or triple team Megaton