The Adrian Peterson benching took the NFL world in a whirlwind. Washington Redskins head coach Jay Gruden opted to make Peterson inactive for Sunday’s season opener against the Philadelphia Eagles.
Shortly after the news broke, an NFL Network report stated Redskins veterans were “not happy” about Gruden’s decision. Following the 32-27 loss, one of those veterans voiced his thoughts calling the move a “slap in the face.”
“Any time you’ve got a Hall of Fame guy that doesn’t dress, man, it’s a slap in the face,” Morgan Moses told The Sports Junkies on 106.7 the Fan Monday.
“And obviously, we’ve gotta figure out what the reason is. And it’s my job as one of the older guys on the offensive line to speak up and say, ‘Hey, we need him,'” Moses continued. “Obviously, you don’t put a Hall of Fame guy like that on the sideline. When he’s healthy, as well.”
The situation has become murky and a possible distraction for the Redskins’ 2019 season to go along with all the other storylines — Trent Williams’ holdout and Jordan Reed’s health.
It has brewed all week leading up to the game, as Gruden hinted at the possibility of Peterson not playing. Then it became a reality, and it apparently has not sat well with the locker room.
That’s especially after starter Derrius Guice had just 18 yards on 10 carries in the loss. As a team, Washington had 28 yards rushing with a 2.2 yards per carry. Their inability to run the football played a major part in the Redskins blowing a 17-0 lead.
Gruden wasn’t quite apologetic following the game. He defended his decision by saying “If we have a game where we think we can run the ball 55 times in a game in an I-formation, then sure, I’ll get him up.”
That statement in itself was a slap in the face to a future Hall of Fame player, and one that rushed for 1,042 yards and seven touchdowns for your team a year ago.
“I think (Peterson) brings a lot to the game,” Moses told the Junkies. “I think he brings a lot to our team. But to have that guy just standing on the sideline is just, it doesn’t sit well to guys on the team or the NFL. So I think this is something we need to correct, man, because he is a helluva football player.”
