Peterson knows fumbles could get him benched

There has been debate this week about whether Adrian Peterson's struggles to hang onto the football could cause the Pro Bowl running back to be benched. Peterson fumbled twice in Sunday's victory over Chicago -- he lost one of them -- and now has been charged with six fumbles (five lost) this season.

Peterson's most recent miscues give him 19 career fumbles, including 12 lost, in two-plus seasons. So does he think continued problems in this area could earn him a place on the sideline?

"Of course," he said Thursday in a very matter of fact manner. "If I continue to fumble the ball, especially now in this stretch, I'm sure I'll be sitting on the sideline and that's something I definitely don't want to do. So take care of the ball."

That's easy to say but has been tough for Peterson to do. One of the NFL's most talented running backs -- he led the league in rushing last season and is third this year with 1,084 yards -- Peterson's fumbles have come in a variety of ways this season. A failed attempt to take a handoff from Brett Favre in Week 2 at Detroit; a strip by Packers linebacker Clay Matthews III that was returned for a touchdown in Week 4; a failed pitch attempt to Percy Harvin in Week 10 against the Lions; having the ball punched out at the end of a long run in Week 10; and then two strips by Bears linebacker Hunter Hillenmeyer last Sunday.

"I'm my hardest critic and I can sometimes on the field be my biggest enemy, how I run," Peterson said. "When I look at the fumbles it comes every time I'm in a crowd trying to fight for extra yards and guys are not tackling me, they are really tackling the ball. So, just being more aware that that is what guys want to do. Try to tackle the ball instead of actually tackle the player that is running the ball."

Hillenmeyer was a prime example of this. In both cases he got the ball away from Peterson, the linebacker clearly was going for the ball and not the player. Although neither of those strips came with Peterson in what you would consider a true crowd of players.

"I think we've talked about it obviously every time a fumble comes out," offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell said. "It's one of those things that obviously we're focusing on it. He's focusing on it. You coach him, you do drills to help with the ball security. I believe sometimes as well you can almost focus on it too much and that can make it become a problem as well. It's a conscious effort with him."

Peterson also knows he has to consider hitting the ground sooner instead of trying to extend runs that are more likely to result in him being stripped than anything.

"It's not easy. It's not easy," he said when asked if he had the ability to give up. "Obviously, you know how I play the game. But it's something I'll take into consideration because I know when I'm in a crowd I know our opposing team, I'm sure defensive coordinators tell those guys, 'Hey, we've got him up, forget tackling him, he's not going anywhere, rip for the ball, rip for the ball.' I'm just going to start being more aware of putting two hands on the ball and going down at times."

Said Bevell: "We love the guy in terms of his fighting, scratching, clawing, trying to get those extra yards. Sometimes those are the ones where they end up holding him up, ripping the ball out when he's getting gang tackled. Those may be times where you have to give up the fight but that's a tough thing to tell a guy that's ingrained in him."

As we found out from the Associated Press this afternoon, Peterson's issues extend beyond the field. He received a speeding ticket last Saturday after Edina police clocked him driving 109 miles per hour on Hwy. 62.

The story about Peterson's ticket came out just after his news conference today. He was asked, however, about being a high-profile athletes in this day and age, a question that had to do with the scrutiny golfer Tiger Woods is facing these days.