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Peterson made his debut for the Saints against
his longtime Vikings team and it was hardly the night he had
envisioned as New Orleans lost 29-19. Peterson got the first two
carries of the game and picked up a first down, but finished
with just six carries for 18 yards in a timeshare with running
backs Mark Ingram and rookie Alvin Kamara.
Toward the end of the first half, Peterson was caught on camera
saying something to Payton which caused many to speculate that
he was upset with his new coach. "Just communicating with him,"
Peterson told reporters. "There's no conflict. I've got a lot of
respect for coach Payton and his offense and he's a great mind."
Payton also attempted to debunk the theory of a rift between the
two.
"We weren’t in any heated exchange. He was into it, we were all
into it. There was (no issue) that I can recall, and I’m being
honest," Payton said.
Conflict or not, Peterson is likely in for big adjustment with
New Orleans. The Vikings' career rushing leader with 11,747
yards, Peterson will now share much of the running load with
Ingram and possibly Kamara.
"We're going to pay attention to what we want to do each week
and try to have a good balance between (the running backs),"
Payton said.
"I think we’ll be able to."
(Writing by Jahmal Corner in Los Angeles; editing by Amlan
Chakraborty)
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