It’s times like these when having a future-Hall of Fame, veteran running back on your roster really pays dividends.
With second-year breakout running back Derrius Guice now sidelined with a sprained MCL, it will once again be the Adrian Peterson show in Washington. By now, he’s used to stepping up when called upon, and this time around should be no different.
Over a year ago, AP was signed by the Redskins just before the season after Guice went down with a torn ACL. He stepped in to rush for over 1,000 yards that season. Earlier this year, AP was once again called upon to shoulder the load after Guice suffered a torn meniscus in the first game of the year. Now, he will once again be asked to keep the ground-game afloat while Guice sits for at least this next game, and quite possibly the final three weeks of the season.
None of this is to say that Peterson has not maintained a role with Guice in the lineup, but it has been diminished. So far on the season, AP has ran for a total of 718 yards and three touchdowns. In the four games where he’s split the load with Guice after the young gun returned from injury, Peterson has 227 yards and two touchdowns — hardly RB2 numbers.
It should also be noted that Peterson has some incentives to pad the stats in these final three weeks, as a $500,000 roster bonus kicks in if he rushes for over 1,000 yards again this season.
With an increasing likelihood that we don’t see Guice take the field again until 2020, it will be the Adrian Peterson show once again in Washington. Even at the ripe of age of 34, that’s always some must-watch television.
