Adrian Peterson casually takes shots at Vikings, Zimmer during recent interview
By Adam Patrick
The former Minnesota Vikings running back recently spoke with a member of the New Orleans Saints media about the upcoming season.
In a little over four months, Adrian Peterson will once again, get ready to play in front of thousands of Minnesota Vikings fans at U.S. Bank Stadium. However, this time the running back will not be wearing a Vikings uniform.
Instead, he will be making his regular season debut as a member of the New Orleans Saints. Peterson agreed to a contract with a Saints last week that could keep him on the team for up to two years.
Whether anyone likes it or not, the running back’s return to Minnesota is going to be a hot topic until the game finally kicks off on Monday, September 11.
On Wednesday, New Orleans’ official website posted a recent interview with Peterson and after jokingly stating that he will be seeking, “revenge,” against the Vikings, he talked about what it is going to be like playing against his former team for the first time.
"“It’s going to be exciting. It was just ironic, when the schedule came out and I (saw) it I was like, ‘wow, this is pretty much meant to be.’ But I have so many great memories down there in Minnesota. Great fan base, they supported me through everything throughout my career. So just to embrace the love once I get there will be exciting and I’m looking forward to that.I’m looking forward to going against my defensive guys that I’ve been practicing against for so long. It’s going to be fun to go against those guys so I can let them know when I was doing that talking, telling them, ‘hey, I’ll hit you guys for 150 or 200 yards,’ that I wasn’t just talking, they’ll see.”"
150 or 200 yards Adrian? How is that going to work when you will be splitting carries in the backfield with fellow Saints running back Mark Ingram?
Early on in the interview, Peterson spoke about the aspects of New Orleans that attracted him the most to sign with the team. Right, because he had so many offers on the table before finally being able to narrow it down to signing with the Saints.
"“Another thing that really attracted me (to the Saints), was to play with the offensive line. I love to see guys up front getting things done.” Minnesota Vikings The Viking Age 0d - 6 biggest draft steals in Minnesota Vikings history More headlines around FanSided: 1d - Former Vikings first-round pick could reportedly return to NFC North 1d - Bears analyst has extremely embarrassing Kirk Cousins take 1d - 6 Vikings who (maybe) won't make the 53-man roster in 2023 2d - Which teams could be drafting a quarterback next year? 2d - Predicting what the Vikings will do in the 2023 NFL Draft based on 2022 More News at The Viking Age"
Nice of him to sneak in that little jab at Minnesota’s offensive line there. Obviously, the Vikings offensive line was the only reason for his lack of success in 2016, not the knee injury he sustained in the second week of the season that caused him to miss 13 games.
Speaking of his knee, Peterson said he has, “fully recovered,” from his injury and he is even considering playing in the preseason this year. Something the running back has not done since 2013.
"“Playing in the preseason would be a little beneficial to me. I actually talked about it last year with my previous coach and just kind of decided against it (for) that third preseason game. It’s a fresh start for me, so it would be good to get out there and see how things go.”"
Your previous coach? Apparently Mike Zimmer did not do enough defending of Peterson from the media in the last three years to earn enough respect and be referred to by his name by the former Minnesota running back.
Next: Watch highlights of the Vikings' new running back
Well, it is definitely going to be a long four months leading up to this Week 1 matchup. Plenty of time for Peterson to spit out more gibberish and give the Vikings even more of an incentive to knock him out of his cleats.