28 yards on 13 carries for Adrian Peterson against the New York Giants has raised plenty of questions this week, but we might finally have an answer for Peterson’s porous performance on Monday night.
“I feel like it was definitely hurting a little bit. I feel like it was more in my mind,” Peterson said Thursday, via the Pioneer Press. “It’s strange to say that, but I think I was kind of holding myself back, not being able to stretch out and really run. I think I was kind of hindering myself. Now that I’m able to be more relaxed and got a clearer mind, I think I’ll be able to go out there and roll full speed.”
Peterson, who missed practice Wednesday so he could rest his hamstring further, admitted the issue has been bothering for about a month.
“They didn’t know anything about it until maybe like last week,” he said, via the Star Tribune. “That’s when I really felt, OK, I’m starting to feel something now that could slow me down a little bit. I really didn’t say anything to those guys until like last week. Just told them there’s tightness. It’s more so when I run, I was kind of hesitant to stretch out and really stretch the hamstring, thinking that I was going to pull [it]. So that’s how I kind of had it in my mind. But that had nothing to do with the coaches decisions.”
He added that he isn’t worried about missing any games.
