Update 2:49 p.m. ET -- Peterson told Josina Anderson that he's signing a deal with the Titans:
ESPN's Adam Schefter says that Peterson will initially be on the practice squad:
Original Story
Titans workhorse Derrick Henry didn’t look right Sunday in Indianapolis (season-low 2.4 yards per carry), and now we have a better idea why. Henry, the NFL’s leader in both touchdowns (10) and rushing yards (937), is awaiting MRI results for what could be a season-ending foot injury. It goes without saying that losing Henry, a two-time rushing champ and the NFL’s reigning Offensive Player of the Year, for any amount of time would be an enormous blow to a Titans’ offense that, despite a pair of talented receivers in Julio Jones and A.J. Brown, isn’t especially deep.
Considering he’s handled over 84 percent of Tennessee’s rushing attempts this year, you could argue Henry is as important to his team as any skill player in all of football. Already without Darrynton Evans—who was just lost to a season-ending injury of his own—Tennessee’s backfield is running on absolute fumes right now with Henry’s absence leaving Jeremy McNichols atop the Titans’ running-back depth chart. With that in mind, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports the Titans will work out veteran Adrian Peterson later this week.
Peterson last played in 2020, pacing the Lions with 604 yards on 156 carries. The 36-year-old is one of the most decorated ball-carriers, not just of his era, but of all-time, ranking fourth on the NFL’s career rushing list behind only Emmitt Smith, Walter Payton and Frank Gore. Adding the former MVP to the Titans’ backfield stable would allow McNichols to maintain his usual pass-catching role with Peterson dropping the hammer on early downs. While Peterson, at this late juncture in his career, may lack the burst and explosion that made him such a dangerous weapon during his Vikings heyday, he still contributed seven touchdowns a year ago with five of those coming over his final six games.
If Peterson doesn’t pan out, the Titans could expand their search to other free agents including three-time Pro Bowler Todd Gurley, former Lions second-round pick Kerryon Johnson, Alfred Morris, Ito Smith, T.J. Yeldon and Bo Scarborough, the latter two hailing from Nick Saban’s running back factory at Alabama.
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