In his first official game with the New Orleans Saints, it was nothing short of a disappointing performance for former All-Pro running back Adrian Peterson, who rushed for just 18 yards on six carries on just nine snaps on the field in the 29-19 loss in the season opener against the Minnesota Vikings.

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According to Mike Triplett of ESPN, it was clearly not what Peterson was expecting to experience but he expects things to improve as the season rolls on with a larger workload coming about in the process.

“I didn't sign up for nine snaps, though. But unfortunately that's the way the game played out,” Peterson said Thursday. “In my mind, personally, I knew it was gonna take some adjusting. You know, me and Mark (Ingram) played in the last preseason game, and AK (rookie Alvin Kamara) didn't even play that game. So with all three of us being out there, I knew it would take a game or so to kind of get adjusted. So we'll see how things (go) this week.”

This is something that Peterson shouldn't be totally surprised from given that he knew the Saints have been a pass-heavy team since Drew Brees arrived more than a decade ago. Things were not going to drastically change with his addition to the mix.

In fact, his role looks like it's going to be defined as playing primarily in run situations as both Mark Ingram and rookie Alvin Kamara should share the passing scenarios. It should significantly limit the amount of time he has on the field this season with the Saints' priority being establishing the offense through the passing game.

Peterson could be in store for a long season of adjusting to playing in a limited number of snaps for the first time in his career. Unless he's willing to accept the new reduced role, it can quickly become quite a frustrating situation for him.