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Adrian Peterson says he decided that he won't play in the preseason

Running back Adrian Peterson won’t play in the preseason.

“It was something I really thought about and ultimately I just decided against it,” the running back said after today’s practice.

So, this time, a starter sitting was not coach Mike Zimmer’s decision.

Zimmer said last week that he didn’t need to see the NFL’s leading rusher from the 2015 season in an exhibition game. But Zimmer said he would leave the decision up to the 31-year-old running back.

Peterson has not played in the preseason since a brief cameo in 2013, when Leslie Frazier was the head coach, and he has not touched the ball in a preseason game since 2011, the year he tore his ACL.