Written By Tom Schreier
One. That’s how many games Adrian Peterson played for the Vikings this year, and that’s probably how many he will play for Minnesota this entire season, if not for the rest of his career. He sat out the preseason in order to preserve himself for the grind of the NFL season, only to find that his toughest challenges would come from outside the game.
Photos surfaced of two of his four year old sons with open wounds as a result of a “whooping,” and a debate sparked over whether this was corporal punishment or child abuse. It was a clash of cultures — Minnesota versus Texas, Midwest versus the South — that led to outcry from people that took to the internet or called into their local radio station to voice their opinion while national reporters flocked to Winter Park in order to shout over one another at two separate press conferences in the Vikings practice facility. Peterson was deactivated, activated and then deactivated all within the course of a few days, and everyone from loyal Vikings fans to activists to fantasy football owners that had a personal stake in the running back’s future was caught in the fury.
“We embrace our role in the community and the responsibilities that go with it,” owner Zygi Wilf said in a written statement, announcing that Peterson had been placed on the Exempt/Commissioner’s Permission List. “It is important to always listen to our fans, the community and our sponsors. Our goal is to always make the decision that we feel is right for the Minnesota Vikings, and to be clear, we have a strong stance regarding the protection and welfare of children. We want to be sure we get this right.”
Following the announcement, the question became: Is All Day all done in Minnesota? “Our focus right now today is to get this right,” general manager Rick Spielman said at the press conference when asked if Peterson will play for the Vikings again. “We admitted making a mistake and we want to get this right, and we want to support Adrian, and that’s the most important thing right now is to support him through his legal and his personal matters.”
The best football player in the Twin Cities, and perhaps the best athlete in the state, came and went this season in the blink of an eye. “It’s really tough not having our offensive player there,” said Matt Asiata, Peterson’s replacement at running back. “All we gotta do is just move forward and just have his back, but at the same time play football. It’s our job, and it’s our time to just man up.”
On top of that, the 1-2 Vikings, who beat one bad team and lost to two elite ones, lost starting quarterback Matt Cassel and are now forced to give the people what they want: Teddy Bridgewater. His No. 5 jerseys already have flown off of the racks and the vox populi sounded off every time Cassel slipped up against the New England Patriots in Week 2: “Teddy! Teddy!”
Well, the people got a glimpse of the 21 year old from Louisville in Week 3 in a 20-9 loss in New Orleans. Just as soon as the Peterson Era ended, the Bridgewater Era began.
It’s Teddy Time!
Bridgewater will face a tough challenge in Week 5 when the Vikings travel to Green Bay to take on the Packers on Thursday night. But other than that, the Miami native will play in five winnable games before the bye week. He’ll get the Atlanta Falcons at home for his first official start and then play Detroit, at Buffalo and Tampa Bay and against Washington before the Week 10 bye.
In an ideal world, Cassel would have gotten through the Green Bay game and then Minnesota would have turned the reins over to Bridgewater, but it’s the NFL and injuries happen and, as they say, it’s next man up.
The team has voiced their support for Cassel, a veteran who went to the Pro Bowl with Kansas City in 2010 (“I stand behind Matt,” Cordarrelle Patterson said after Cassel’s four interception performance against New England. “Even if it’s just me and Matt out there, I’m gonna stand behind him each day.”), but now it’s time to focus on the future. Bridgewater will face his fair share of challenges, and there’s no knowing how much of Turner’s complex offense he has digested so far, but the former San Diego Chargers coach should be able to help him out.
Unleashing Norv Turner
As long as Turner is able to bring out the best in bona fide NFL players like Greg Jennings, Kyle Rudolph and Cordarrelle Patterson, it should help alleviate some of the pressure Bridgewater has faced. Turner has received praise around the league for his offensive mind, and he should be able to work with the pieces he has, sans Peterson.
His best bet is to utilize his players as athletes, rather than pigeonhole them by position. He has a reputation for doing this, and the mental horsepower to make it work. McKinnon, for one, is an elite athlete who was used as a quarterback in college.
“I do quite a bit of catching out of the backfield, but I also run between the tackles,” says McKinnon, “so it’s all up to the playcaller, what he calls.”
“Coach Turner, he knows what every player can do,” adds Patterson. “He knows their strengths and their weaknesses, so he’s going to get you the ball, man, no matter what. He does a great job with that, finding ways to get me the ball.”
While Turner would presumably take Peterson back in a heartbeat, speaking strictly from a football standpoint — he’s one of a kind, after all: “There’s no other Adrian Peterson in the NFL,” says fullback Jerome Felton — but the star running back’s absence allows him to be more liberal with his play calling. He no longer has to get Peterson the requisite touches for him to break free, which in turn gives Turner the license to utilize Patterson more out of the backfield and call for more passes to Jennings or Adam Thielen. It also gives him an opportunity to mix things up — hand the ball off to Jarius Wright and toss the ball to McKinnon — and utilize an empty backfield, or perhaps toss in a quarterback run every now and then to capitalize on Bridgewater’s mobility.
“We’ve got a lot of weapons with [Kyle] Rudolph and I think [Jerick] McKinnon is a good weapon,” says head coach Mike Zimmer before Rudolph suffered a sports hernia. “Jarius Wright and Greg Jennings are all good weapons. We are always looking for match-ups, we are always looking for ways to get multiple guys the football as opposed to anything else.”
The Peterson suspension is likely a net loss, but there’s always something positive to be found in even the worst of situations.
Everything happens for a reason
Peterson has probably played his last game in Minnesota, and if he has, it might be for the better. A recent ESPN profile of Jerry Jones revealed that the Dallas Cowboys owner and general manager is interested in bringing Peterson back to his hometown of Texas. “Listening to half the conversation, it is obvious Peterson is telling Jones he wants to play for the Cowboys,” wrote Dan Van Natta Jr., an investigative reporter for the Worldwide Leader. “Peterson, 29, is in the fourth year of a seven-year, $100 million contract that will pay him $11.75 million this autumn to play for the Vikings.”
Maybe it was meant to be. Although he is a franchise player and his No. 28 is worn by many fans, people in Minnesota can understand the value of returning home. We celebrated when Joe Mauer signed his extension with the Twins and Zach Parise was picked up as a free agent with the Wild, and it was exciting to see Adam Thielen crack the Vikings’ roster out of camp. Peterson is going through a lot personally, and this might be the change he needs.
The Adrian Peterson Era has ended. Welcome to the Teddy Bridgewater Era.
Tom Schreier can be heard on The Michael Knight Show from 2-3:00 on weekdays. He has written for Bleacher Report and the Yahoo Contributor Network. Follow him on Twitter @tschreier3.