Peterson Felt Ready 'To Blossom' Before Being Released

The 36-year old running back gets another NFL opportunity as the Seattle Seahawks add him to their active roster.

Christopher Hanewinckel/USA Today Sports

Adrian Peterson believes the Tennessee Titans gave up on him a week too soon.

The veteran running back was released on Nov. 23 after three games in which he rushed for 82 yards and one touchdown on 27 carries. Five days later, the Titans had their best rushing performance of the season – 270 yards – as Dontrell Hilliard and D’Onta Foreman each rushed for more than 100 yards against the New England Patriots.

"I felt like going to the Patriots week, that was the week I was going to blossom,” Peterson said this week after the Seattle Seahawks signed him to their practice squad. “Unfortunately, I got released. “… I feel like I can still compete at a high level.”

The 36-year-old will get a chance to prove it. The Seahawks signed Peterson to their active roster on Saturday with the expectation that he will play Sunday against the San Francisco 49ers.

Seattle becomes Peterson’s seventh team in a career that began when the Minnesota Vikings drafted him seventh overall in 2007. The only other time he played for multiple teams in the same season was 2017 when he appeared in six contests with Arizona and four with New Orleans.

“I never was a guy that was like, ‘Hey, I’m going to play my entire career playing for the Vikings,’” Peterson said. “I always kind of wanted to bounce around and experience different cities and things like that.”

That said, he would have liked more time with the Titans, who added him a day after Derrick Henry went on injured reserve with a foot injury. Officially, he was a starter in two of his three games with Tennessee and he led the team in carries in two of the three although he never had more than 10 attempts. It was not a heavy workload, but it was just enough – in his mind – to get adjusted.

With the Seahawks, he expects things to be different.

“I don’t really feel like I showed too much in Tennessee,” Peterson said. “Before I got released, I was feeling my legs were back under me.

“… I feel like I’ll be able to flow with (Seattle’s) style of offense and how their run game is. It kind of fits my style a little more than – I would say – Tennessee. So, I think it will be an easy adjustment for me.”