Adrian Peterson may not rescue the Tennessee Titans, but I want to watch him try | Estes

You’ve seen these old football players who are so physically gifted that even years after retirement they still look capable of playing tomorrow?

Adrian Peterson is going to be one of those guys.

The 36-year-old running back who jumped out of his living room last week to join the Tennessee Titans and fill in for Derrick Henry doesn’t look his age. And he sure doesn’t look like he’s been snacking on his sofa for the past 10 months.

He looks ready for this. Born ready, I'd say.

“I’m excited to be here,” Peterson said Friday. “You think of an ideal situation as far as a running back like me and my style, it would be this.”

This is going to be fascinating. And another example of how rapidly life in the NFL moves quickly, huh?

Imagine trying to make sense a week ago of Friday’s scene at the Titans’ headquarters: King Henry is nowhere to be found, and Adrian freakin’ Peterson – football royalty in his own right – is standing there talking about stepping in against the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday Night Football.

“Derrick is the guy that I had as the frontrunner for the MVP,” said Peterson, the last running back to actually win that award (in 2012).

TENNESSEE TITANS ROSTER: Tennessee Titans sign running back Adrian Peterson to active roster

REPLACING DERRICK HENRY: What Adrian Peterson said about trying to replace Tennessee Titans' Derrick Henry

ADRIAN PETERSON: 'He's still 'All Day': What Tennessee Titans are getting in Adrian Peterson — from those who'd know

“To sit here and say that one guy can replace him …”

He’s right, of course. Peterson is the NFL’s greatest active running back, but he knows, same as we do: Henry is its best currently.

It’s wildly unfair to ask Peterson – at his age and without playing a snap so far this season – to rescue the Titans and be able to replace Henry, who has been carrying the Titans as much as a running back could carry an NFL team.

“He ain’t replacing Derrick or anything like that,” said Titans receiver Julio Jones. “He’s coming in as A.P. We ain’t asking him to be nothing but himself.”

The Titans aren’t going to put the responsibility of replacing Henry on one running back. They can’t. This will likely be a committee.

Younger backs like Jeremy McNichols and D’Onta Foreman should have significant roles, and the featured spot could ultimately hinge on who has the hot hand at that moment.

“It definitely could change week to week,” offensive coordinator Todd Downing said.

Maybe so. Probably so.

Yet for all the talk from Downing and others in Titans camp this week about not changing the offensive approach because of Henry’s absence, I wouldn’t put stock in that.

The insistence on running the ball so often was because of Henry, a ball carrier who'd grow stronger throughout a game as a defense tired. The Titans changed their offense to fit him, not the other way around.

It's silly to think that another running back – or even a group of backs – would get that many carries just on principle. And it’s naïve to think an offense that has been working mostly through one running back for about two years won’t be changed significantly by his absence.

The fallout could be chaotic.

I have no clue what to expect from this offense without Henry. There’s short-term value in that unpredictability. The Rams will have no clue, either.

Meanwhile, the Titans are back to being able to play the disrespect card that has served them well in recent years. That’s a neat trick for a 6-2 team atop the AFC standings, but here we are.

“A lot of people are counting us out,” receiver A.J. Brown said. “… This team is motivated to go out there and prove our worth.”

After Friday’s practice, the Titans ran the following trio in front of media: Brown, Jones, then Peterson. That's two surefire Hall of Famers and a budding superstar in Brown who’s on a similar career path.

You’re not exactly sending the Titans’ offense a sympathy card, right?

Peterson isn’t what he once was, but he ran for 1,042 yards three years ago and has been playing on mostly bad teams since departing the Minnesota Vikings after the 2016 season. I’m genuinely curious to see what he can do with a team that has been so adept at running the ball and eager to do it.

Here’s something also worth remembering at this point in Peterson’s career: Despite his eight 1,000-yard rushing seasons and individual accolades, he’s never reached a Super Bowl. He’s only played in five playoff games in his career. None of them since the 2015 season.

After his previous two stops with Washington and Detroit, Peterson called Tennessee “wonderful” and a “breath of fresh air.”

“Great energy,” he said. “I felt it from the moment I’ve got here.”

Which was ... just a few days ago.

Look, all the factors here – from Peterson’s age to his rust to the fact he joined the Titans like five minutes ago – scream patience and pragmatism.

At the same time, they didn’t just add another running back.

They added Adrian Peterson.

Are you not intrigued by that? Because I am.

Reach Gentry Estes at gestes@tennessean.com and on Twitter @Gentry_Estes.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Adrian Peterson may not rescue the Tennessee Titans, but he'll try