McCoy Jabs Back At Peterson
This time, LeSean McCoy said it like he meant it.
Last we checked in on the McCoy-Adrian Peterson back-and-forth over who’s the best in the business, Peterson suggested that if No. 25 was going to proclaim himself the league’s top back, he should do so with more authority.
“He didn’t really mean it,” Peterson said during an interview with Fox Sports Radio. “If you watched his response, [he didn’t mean it]…It was funny because when Stephen A. [Smith] asked him the question, he kind of hesitated, and he didn’t believe it when he said it,” Peterson said. “I tell the youngsters, ‘Say it with your chest, like you mean it!'”
“I don’t know him that well. I don’t know if he was joking or what,” McCoy said on Monday when Peterson’s comments were brought up. “I don’t know how to take that. I play the game and it speaks for itself.”
The conversation shifted to another topic, but McCoy wasn’t quite ready to let it go. One reporter asked if he was concerned about his numbers dipping at all with Darren Sproles now in the fold.
“Numbers? [A reporter] asked me about my man in Minnesota. Check them numbers.”
Why do you think you’re the best in the league?
“If you look around, look at the tape, as a back I do everything: I’m running, catching, blocking, third-down guy mixed in and out. There’s not anything that you ask me that I won’t do or that I can’t do. So from that aspect, I said the last three years I don’t think a back has been more productive,” said McCoy.
You do more than Peterson on the field is what you’re saying?
“Yes. Yes. Yes. Especially over the last three years, for sure. You’re a numbers guy: check them numbers.”
We did. Here’s how they look:
| 2011 | Rushes | Yards | Avg. | Receptions/yards | Total TDs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LeSean McCoy | 273 | 1309 | 4.8 | 48/315 | 20 |
| Adrian Peterson | 208 | 970 | 4.7 | 18/139 | 13 |
| 2012 | |||||
| McCoy | 200 | 840 | 4.2 | 54/373 | 5 |
| Peterson | 348 | 2,097 | 6.0 | 40/217 | 13 |
| 2013 | |||||
| McCoy | 314 | 1,607 | 5.1 | 52/539 | 11 |
| Peterson | 279 | 1,266 | 4.5 | 29/171 | 11 |
| Total | |||||
| McCoy | 787 | 3,756 | 4.7 | 154/1,227 | 36 |
| Peterson | 835 | 4,333 | 5.1 | 87/527 | 37 |
Peterson, who tore his ACL at the end of the 2011 season and bounced back with an MVP campaign in ’12, has the edge in rushing yards, average and touchdowns overall. McCoy had the superior numbers in ’11 and last season and is a more productive receiver out of the backfield.
“The point that I’m trying to make is versatile backs, it’s hard to cancel them out because there’s not a package that they can’t perform in,” said McCoy. “If you cut down the runs, alright, what else can this back do? Back can catch, back can run routes, back can block, it’s still vital.”