Saints running back Adrian Peterson looked like age had caught up to him last season in Minnesota, as he managed to play in just three games and averaged a meager 1.9 yards a carry. But coach Sean Payton says Peterson looks like a kid again at Organized Team Activities.
Payton says everything he has seen from Peterson at the Saints’ facility this offseason indicates that he isn’t aging like most athletes.
“He’d be the one guy that you would say’s already gone against conventional wisdom,” Payton said, via the New Orleans Advocate. “With not only his skill set, but also his physical ability and the way he trains, I think he is excited to get back.”
That sounds good in June, but it remains to be seen whether Peterson can last for 16 games and play effectively from September through December. Few players who have an injury-plagued and ineffective season at age 31 bounce back at age 32. Payton has to hope his team signed an exception.