Adrian Peterson is beginning his 13th NFL season on the bench.
Washington is planning to make Peterson inactive for today’s game at Philadelphia, according to NFL Network.
That news should come as no surprise. As we noted on Thursday, head coach Jay Gruden sounded noncommittal about what role, if any, Peterson would have for Washington on Sunday. Derrius Guice has been declared the starter at running back, Chris Thompson is a good receiver who will play on passing downs, and the newly arrived Wendell Smallwood would be ahead of Peterson in the roster order because Smallwood is a good special teams player. Only if four running backs are active would Peterson be one of them.
And four running backs won’t be active today, so Peterson will be watching while his team takes on the Eagles.