In his first preseason appearance since 2011, Adrian Peterson failed to break any big gains, but the 31-year-old Saints running back didn't mind. It was enough just to be back on the field.
"It felt good, you know. I was looking forward to it," Peterson remarked after the game, per ESPN's Mike Triplett. "I haven't played in the preseason for a long time, so it was good to get out there. I think I had maybe five or six carries, 12 or 13 plays. It felt good to move around, to get hit and kind of get those first reps out of the way.
Playing into the second quarter of New Orleans' 13-0 win over the visiting Texans, Peterson finished with six carries for 15 yards and one pass (on a screen!) for negative-one yard. Not quite earth-shattering numbers for the former NFL MVP's debut with his new team, but enough to build confidence heading into the season.
"Get the body kind of banging around a little bit, getting some good looks against a top-three defense," Peterson continued. "Unfortunately we didn't accomplish what we wanted to accomplish as an offense that first quarter. But playing against a defense like that, that's one of those games you have to grind out. ... It would've been fun to play four quarters against them."
Peterson and Mark Ingram, both making their preseason debuts essentially split carries in the first half, while rookie runner Alvin Kamara got the night off from coach Sean Payton. Assuming Kamara is back in the rotation come Week 1, it will be interesting to see how New Orleans divvies up carries among the talented troika of tailbacks. There are a lot of mouths to feed in the Bayou backfield, and Peterson sounds hungrier than ever.
