The Seattle Seahawks placed veteran running back Adrian Peterson on injured reserve on Wednesday due to a lingering back injury.
The 36-year-old Peterson was on Seattle’s practice squad. He appeared in one game for the Seahawks and had 16 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries in a win over the San Francisco 49ers on Dec. 5.
“His back has not responded the way we had hoped,” Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said of placing the former star on IR.
Though Peterson’s on-field contributions were meager, Carroll said the seven-time Pro Bowler was a big help to the other Seattle running backs.
One player to emerge was Rashaad Penny, a 2018 first-round pick that has underachieved. But Penny has notched the two-highest rushing totals of his career this month — 137 against the Houston Texans on Dec. 12 and 135 versus the Chicago Bears last Sunday.
“He still influences people strongly with his presence and all of that,” Carroll said of Peterson. “It’s one of the obvious impressions that somebody could make. Coaches, players, everybody, when he jumped out here and when he worked, it was just so complete in his effort and his focus and intention to do the right thing and all, that it just impressed everybody.
“I would think he might have had as much impact on Rashaad as anybody. It does say a tremendous amount about him, his character, his makeup, his stature as a player, but also what he represents as a competitor. He’s the ultimate. It had a big impact.”
Peterson also played in three games with the Tennessee Titans this season and had 82 yards on 27 carries.
Peterson is the fifth-leading rusher in NFL history with 14,918 yards. The 2012 league MVP with the Minnesota Vikings has 126 career touchdowns and is tied with Jim Brown for 10th place on the all-time list.
Seattle also activated defensive tackle Bryan Mone and cornerback D.J. Reed from the COVID-19 list on Wednesday.
–Field Level Media