Adrian Peterson hits the reset button, trusts Norv Turner after 49ers loss

Of course, Adrian Peterson is more comfortable when lined up straight behind the quarterback. After all, that’s how Peterson has done it most of his career, from his pee-wee football days to his 2,097-yard season in 2012.

But the Vikings running back said he trusts offensive coordinator Norv Turner and he feels more opportunities to run out of the shotgun will lead to familiarity and then comfort within Turner’s shotgun spread scheme.

“It comes down to making sure that your alignment is right, you’re being patient, you’re reading it quickly and you’re responding quickly as well,” Peterson said Thursday. “We’ve been getting a lot of reps in the gun since OTAs and I think we’ll continue to get these looks in the game, in live action. So we’ll just be able to improve as a unit, being on the same page.”

Peterson got just 10 carries in Monday night’s 20-3 loss to the 49ers. Four of them came from the shotgun, and he rushed for seven yards on those runs.

With that small workload, Peterson rushed for 31 yards in his return.

“I felt like it was just an OK job,” he said. “I only had like 10 carries and they were kind of spread out here and there. But watching the film, I think on a couple I wasn’t patient enough. On some, I was patient. But I just look at those things and try to improve. That’s what I’ve been doing this week.”

Peterson was still steaming about the loss. When he gets mad, he gets wrinkles on his forehead. “I had those wrinkles all day yesterday,” he said. But he was in better spirits Thursday and has shifted his focus to Sunday.

“Yeah, the reset button has been pressed,” the 30-year-old back said.

Sunday’s home game against the Lions will be Peterson’s first at TCF Bank Stadium as an active player. More notably, it will be his first game there as an active player since missing the final 15 games of 2014 due to his NFL ban.

“I’m looking forward to it,” Peterson said. “I will be exciting, fun running out that tunnel for the first time and having the family up in the (luxury) box.”

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