Adrian Peterson admits he didn’t tell Sean Payton “I love you” on Monday night. But the running back also insisted multiple times that he and the Saints coach are not at odds and did not exchange words during the game.
“I could’ve said, ‘I love you,’” Peterson said, via Josh Katzenstein of the New Orleans Times-Picayune. “But it’s no issue. We have bigger fish to fry.”
ESPN cameras showed what appeared to be a sideline exchange between Payton and Peterson. Payton also denied any confrontation.
“We weren’t in any heated exchange,” Peterson said. “I’d tell you if we were in a heated exchange, so why don’t you ask him? I think he was into it; we were all into it. There was none that I can recall, and I’m being honest.”
Peterson, though, couldn’t deny it was one of the worst games of his career. He said he played only nine snaps, and his six carries matched a career low, while his 18 yards were the third fewest of his career. It likely hurt worse that his replacement in Minnesota, rookie Dalvin Cook, rushed for 127 yards on 22 carries.
“Not too much to evaluate,” Peterson said when asked to evaluated his performance.
Mark Ingram had six carries for 17 yards and five catches for 54 yards, while rookie Alvin Kamara contributed seven carries for 18 yards and four catches for 20 yards.