Does Adrian Peterson need to play in Redskins preseason finale?

Veteran and future Hall of Fame running back Adrian Peterson had an impressive debut for the Washington Redskins in the teams Friday night loss to the Denver Broncos.

Peterson showed that he still is an effective runner between the tackles and can make things happen on the outside. His performance of 56 yards on 11 rushing attempts was a welcomed sight for the Redskins and their depleted running backs group. Injuries have besieged the unit since the start of training camp.

After Peterson’s strong performance, should the Redskins play the 12-year veteran in the teams final preseason game against the Baltimore Ravens?

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Did Peterson do enough in just a few days as a Redskins back to sit out the final preseason game which most starters and frontline players do?

I think it's safe to say Adrian Peterson will be the #Redskins opening day starter at RB. He is still making plays at 33 and frankly, looks like he can give the Redskins a boost in the run game.

— Lake Lewis Jr (@LakeLewis) August 25, 2018

After Thursday’s outing, Coach Jay Gruden was non-committal to Peterson’s playing time but it did sound as if that would be a carefully monitored situation.

“We’ll see,” Gruden said when asked if Peterson would play against Baltimore. “I’m going to check out the tape and see how he’s feeling body wise and we’ll go from there. I think Samaje [Perine] should be OK by Thursday. We’ll get some good looks at them and we’ve got some other guys to look at. We’ve still got a lot of work to do as far as Thursday’s concerned; we’re looking at players.”

The fifth-year coach was impressed with Peterson’s first outing with the Redskins like most players and fans were.

“I saw a big guy running pretty hard really,” Gruden said. “He had a five-yard average I believe, had a couple good bounces, and, you know, the thing I like about some of his runs is they look like they’re like gains of ones [yard] and he’d fall forward for a gain of three. The first run of the day I thought it was a three-yard gain and he ends up second and three. Of course, we took a sack that we should never take on the next play, but I was impressed with Adrian and the way he ran.”

Peterson has probably earned the right to sit out Friday’s contest based on his career track record. He’s one of the all-time greats at the running back position and if Thursday is any indication, he will be ready as the possible starter against the Arizona Cardinals to start the regular season.