When Saints running back Adrian Peterson said he didn’t sign up for nine snaps per game, the general reaction from many was, “Oh yes you did.”
Saints coach Sean Payton said before Sunday’s game against New England that Peterson definitely didn’t sign up for the workhorse role he had in Minnesota.
“I don’t think we’ve ever discussed featuring him like he was featured in Minnesota,” Payton told Jane Slater of NFL Network. “And yet our hopes obviously are that we have more than fifty snaps like we did a week ago. It’s tough when you have eight possessions. I felt like two-thirds of the call sheet we didn’t even get to so we ended up in a hurry-up mode in the last part of the game. Hopefully we have that balance that we’re looking for and we’ll see how that goes.”
With the Saints already in a hole against the Patriots, it’s unlikely that Peterson will have much more than the six carries he had six days ago. He currently has three rushing attempts for 13 yards.