The Washington Redskins were forced to switch things up in the backfield during Week 2 of the 2019 NFL season by bringing Adrian Peterson back into the mix. Unfortunately, there were indications that perhaps head coach Jay Gruden was hesitant to commit to him as the lead back.

Reports suggested that Gruden is not the biggest fan of Peterson's running style. According to Ethan Cadeaux of Pro Football Talk, he has since refuted those claims:

“You want north-south running backs. I don’t think you want east-west backs, that’s for sure,” Gruden said. “[Peterson] is a north-south runner….when he gets going north-south, what that does is creates a physical mentality for our offense. Our linemen love it, and it opens up our play-action passes. We do love north-south backs.”

Gruden attributed Peterson's lack of work to the scheme the Dallas Cowboys were running on defense.

“[Peterson] is a north-south runner,” Gruden said. “What that does, sometimes, ya know it’s hard when he’s in the game, like yesterday we were in 11 personnel and they but base on the field and said ‘heck you’re just not going to run it’ and you know we had to throw it.”

Peterson had been inactive in the season opener. The injury to running back Derrius Guice forced Washington to bring the veteran back in the mix thanks to his skill set as an early-down back. The run game would prove to be virtually non-existent after he finished with a mere 25 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries.

Although this type of efficiency leaves much to be desired, it is clear that there are still plenty of questions regarding the state of the run game.

While Gruden insists that Peterson's running style is not the issue, it will be interesting to see how his role changes once Guice is able to return.