Adrian Peterson has some large cleats to fill as Derrick Henry’s replacement.
Luckily, he got some succinct advice from coach Mike Vrabel about what’s expected of him in the Tennessee Titans role.
“Go as hard as you can, take care of the football, try to learn the details of the play, play with great effort and don’t do dumb stuff to hurt the team,” Vrabel told reporters he said to Peterson.
Vrabel called wide receiver Julio Jones out for “dumb s— that hurt the team” earlier this season.
It would be impossible to ask Peterson to mirror Henry’s production. Having carried the ball 219 times for 937 yards this season, Henry has nearly 300 more yards on the ground than Jonathan Taylor, the NFL’s second-leading rusher with 649 yards. Henry also leads the league with 10 rushing touchdowns. He is expected to miss the remainder of the regular season with a fracture in his foot.
Peterson is 36 years old, which might as well be Moses’ age late in life for NFL running backs, and he was a free agent before signing with the Titans. In fairness, Peterson did appear in all 16 games and average 3.9 yards per carry for the Detroit Lions last season. Peterson is expected to split carries in Tennessee with Jeremy McNichols, a fifth-year back in his second season with the Titans.