Detroit Lions head coach Matt Patricia held a Zoom meeting with members of the Detroit media today ahead of their Week 1 matchup against their division rival Chicago Bears, and the his first media meeting since the team announced the signing of RB Adrian Peterson.
Patricia was asked to describe the process that ultimately saw Peterson land in Detroit after his release from the Washington Football franchise:
“I think obviously it was a player that was released from his former team, and we do our due diligence there. We looked at it and decided it was something for us to purse. We had good contact and communication, and we were fortunate to be able to bring him aboard.”
“I have great respect for him, he’s a phenomenal player. Bevs (OC Darryl Bevell) has a connection with him – we’re excited about it, but we’ve got a long way to go.”
However, Peterson’s signing didn’t have anything to do with the injury situation at running back the team is experiencing. For reference, Bo Scarbrough is now on Injured Reserve, while D’Andre Swift has been banged up throughout camp.
“With (getting) Adrian Peterson, it was independent of everything else,” Patricia explained.
When asked what his expectations are for the 35 year old Peterson at this point in his career, Patricia simply responded that he’s not expecting something from him that he’s not already expecting from every other member of his team.
“Nothing more than what we expect from everyone,” he said.
Will Peterson be used in Week 1? Patricia wasn’t as specific in response to that inquiry:
“We’ll see,” Patricia said. “He just got here. We’ll see how everything goes.”
The Lions and Bears will take the gridiron in an empty Ford Field this Sunday at 1:00 PM EST.
