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“I know what I have to do,” he said. “It’s pretty simple. Just be more aware that guys are going to be hitting you until you fall all the way to the ground. Make sure you just hold the ball tight. It’s not that big of a deal.”
Peterson’s emotions have calmed considerably since Sunday, when he fumed after fumbling twice in a 24-17 loss to the Atlanta Falcons.
Peterson’s two fumbles last week pushed his season total to eight, which leads the NFL. He has lost four of those fumbles. He has fumbled four times in the past three games, and that made ball security a priority in practice in preparation for Sunday’s game against the New York Giants with the NFC North title on the line.
Peterson, who fumbled only four times last season, said it took a few days for him to get past his frustration and disappointment this week.
“Bad games may take me 24 to 72 hours to get over,” he said. “But I eventually do and learn from it and try and improve on the mistakes I made.”
Vikings coach Brad Childress said the coaching staff constantly preaches ball security in practice and that the coaches devoted more time to that this week. Peterson said he didn’t necessarily change anything with his mechanics but has simply tried to be more cognizant of protecting the ball and holding it high and tight.
“I’m not going to change my mentality at all,” he said. “Really just be more secure with it. That’s it.”
The Vikings don’t think Peterson’s fumbles are a major issue at this point. Or at least they don’t seem worried about it becoming a long-term problem.
“His confidence will be high,” Childress said. “He’s an elite-caliber athlete. There are bumps in everybody’s road. It’s how you deal with it. It’s not the adversity. It’s how you deal with it that really defines things.”
Said Jackson: “He’s good, he’s focused. We have to do a better job taking care of the football. He knows that. I’m pretty sure he’s going to get it done. He’s a big part of what we do so we can’t let him get down.”
The Vikings could use a big performance by Peterson on Sunday. Not only can they clinch the NFC North title with a victory, Peterson should become the first Vikings player to win the NFL rushing title. He leads the NFL in rushing with 1,657 yards, comfortably ahead of Atlanta’s Michael Turner at 1,491.
Peterson’s rushing total is 37th best in NFL history. He’s likely to become the 26th player to rush for 1,700 yards, and he needs only 2 yards to become the fifth player in NFL history to rush for 3,000 yards in his first two seasons.
“I’m not thinking about (the rushing title) at all,” he said. “The only thing I’m focused on is going out and getting the win. Everything else will come along.”
Peterson said he also won’t try to do too much in order to make up for his mistakes last week.
“Not at all,” he said. “I have to stay within my element, don’t get outside my element and just play my game.”
