Lions running back Adrian Person is expected to return to the starting lineup this week after last week’s starter, D’Andre Swift, suffered a concussion. Peterson is glad to get the playing time, but he thinks Swift should be starting when both of them are healthy.
In fact, Peterson said today that when Swift started ahead of him for the first time last week, his response was to say that the Lions should have given Swift the starting job sooner.
“It made sense to me. Actually, when I was told, I was like, ‘You guys should have did this two, three weeks ago, you know,’” Peterson said, via ESPN. “So I’m here to try to win, that’s my main objective. Of course I want to play, I’m a competitor. So I heard the news [about the concussion], the first thing was, ‘What’s going on?’ It was my concern for his health. It kind of threw me off. But after that, just, OK, the young guy’s down. As a running back room, we have to step up and handle our job.”
Peterson is the Lions’ leading rusher this season, but Swift, their second-round draft pick, has been the more explosive playmaker, both as a runner and as a receiver. Swift will have the job over Peterson just as soon as he’s healthy, and he’s likely to be the Lions’ starting running back long after Peterson is gone.