The Tennessee Titans have signed running back Adrian Peterson to their practice squad in the wake of the injury to Derrick Henry, but it still isn’t clear how much he will play in Week 9 versus the Los Angeles Rams.
The expectation is for Peterson to be the primary ball-carrier at some point, with Jeremy McNichols mixing in and dominating passing-down work like he has done all season. The team also added D’Onta Foreman to its practice squad, and has Dontrell Hilliard on it as well.
Titans running backs coach Tony Dews wasn’t ready to say how much Peterson will play on Sunday night, even going as far as to say he’s not sure Peterson will play at all.
.@Titans RB coach Tony Dews on how much he expects @AdrianPeterson to play Sunday: I can't answer those questions until we practice. We'll see what he can do. If it's carry it 10-15 times, or one time, I don't know until we see what we've got
— Jim Wyatt (@jwyattsports) November 2, 2021
#Titans RB coach Tony Dews: I'm not going to assume that Adrian Peterson is going to play Sunday at this point. We'll get out in practice and see how Adrian Peterson and D'Onta Foreman can help us.
— TURRON DAVENPORT (@TDavenport_NFL) November 2, 2021
While Dews is taking the safe approach here, it’s hard to fathom Peterson not seeing at least some work against the Rams. We fully expect him to be out there and getting carries.
As far as the distribution of touches and carries at the position are concerned, Dews isn’t sure how that will pan out, either, but he does believe McNichols is ready for an expanded role.
#Titans RB coach Tony Dews: Says Jeremy McNichols is ready for a bigger role. He's very dependable, very smart, takes care of the football.
— John Glennon (@glennonsports) November 2, 2021
.@Titans RB coach Tony Dews: The distribution of carries between the backs will obviously be different. We'll have to see how it works out in practices, and games, and it could change week to week based on performance
— Jim Wyatt (@jwyattsports) November 2, 2021
Tennessee and Los Angeles will meet at SoFi Stadium in Week 9 on “Sunday Night Football,” with kickoff set for 7:20 p.m. CT.
