Adrian Peterson is already the Lions’ best ball-carrier.
That does not mean he’s going to be the busiest.
Via Carlos Monarrez of the Detroit Free Press, Lions offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell said they want to continue to use a rotation with Kerryon Johnson and D’Andre Swift, despite Peterson’s 93-yard debut.
“We like all three of those guys, obviously,” Bevell said. “They all bring a little bit different pieces to the puzzle. There was some situational football in there that elevated some guys’ snaps — so just the way we’re using them. I think we can continue to see that rotation a little bit.”
Peterson had 14 carries for 93 yards, a 6.6-yard per carry clip that shows the 35-year-old still has it. But Swift was on the field for the most offensive snaps of the group (34 to Peterson’s 24 and Johnson’s 20). Johnson started, and is useful in pass protection.
As much as they might want to share, at a certain point it will become obvious who needs the ball.
“Obviously you start getting the guy with the hot hand,” Bevell said, “and Adrian was running really well in that last game, so he got a few more carries in there as well. So we’ll kind of continue to go in that area. We really like all three of those guys, but we’re going to try to — I always say, we’re going to try to put them in the best spots to help them be successful.”
Bevell wasn’t afraid to shovel it to Peterson the last time he was calling plays for him (when they were in Minnesota from 2007-2010), and it seems it will reach a point where the veteran running back will add to his workload.