After the Washington Redskins handed running-back Adrian Peterson a fat contract extension for 2019, he won’t even spend the season opener in pads. It looks like the Redskins’ players are as surprised (and disappointed) about the decision as everyone else.
According to NFL insider Mike Garafolo, league sources indicate that “several veterans” within the Redskins locker room have expressed their displeasure with head coach Jay Gruden’s decision to scratch Peterson for their Week 1 game against the Philadelphia Eagles. As Garafolo sums it up, the team’s attitude is, “How could you do that to a guy who bailed us out last year?”
The Redskins’ new starting running-back, Derrius Guice, enters the season after missing all of 2018 with a torn ACL, and will not have the help of all-pro offensive lineman Trent Williams, who is in the middle of a bitter holdout.
It’s not a complete surprise to those who have followed the Redskins to see AP benched. They want to give Derrius Guice as many opportunities as they can and also signed Wendell Smallwood, who can play special teams in addition to running back. That left Peterson as the odd-man-out and it appears some players aren’t happy about it.
