Vikings plan to give Adrian Peterson more balanced workload

The Minnesota Vikings are planning to give their star running back Adrian Peterson a more balanced workload to limit wear and tear.

The first way the Vikings plan to limit wear and tear on Adrian Peterson this year is to keep him out of preseason games. However, that won’t be the only way they try to keep Peterson healthy during the 2015 NFL season. Vikings running back coach Kirby Wilson has said that Peterson looks the same physically as he has in the past, so this isn’t about some heretofore unknown injury for the running back. Rather, the team is using the reason of adding other players to the offense as to why they want to give Peterson a more balanced workload.

In this case, balanced is more like a code for the Vikings offense isn’t just going to climb on Peterson’s back and go as they have done so much in the past. Wilson has particularly raved about what he’s seen thus far from second-year running back Jerick McKinnon. Of course, he was also quick to add that McKinnon’s emergence isn’t going to mean less carries for Peterson. Instead he said that it’s the snap count that they want to watch with regards to Peterson. He said that was what was more likely to cause the wear and tear. However, the amount of snaps Peterson gets could still be directly proportional to the amount of carries he gets as well. So it’s really still about the Vikings trying to find balance in their offense and not relying heavily on Peterson, which translates to a “balanced” workload for him.

Besides McKinnon, there’s also quarterback Teddy Bridgewater and the Vikings’ receiving corps. If they step up, then it helps the Vikings on a couple of fronts. On one hand, it will inevitably open up running room for Peterson when he does get the ball, and on the other, it could potentially lead to less snaps for Peterson as well, which would obviously give them that balance.

Wilson was quick to point out that Peterson has been explosive in practice thus far, but that it’s a natural transition for older backs to start seeing less snaps and consequently less carries. It’s not an uncommon scenario, just look at the Seahawks picking up pass-catching weapons like Jimmy Graham to more than likely make sure they don’t overuse Marshawn Lynch, who is also getting up there in running back age.

So fans waiting impatiently for AP to get back on the field shouldn’t worry about seeing too much less of him than before.

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