Peterson produces without complaint

Earlier in the week Bears coach Lovie Smith said, "We're not pleased with where our running game is right now," leading to speculation that Adrian Peterson would get a bigger portion of the rushing attempts.

Peterson's waiting; hopefully not in vain. A less patient man might have blown a gasket a long time ago, sitting on the bench behind a starter whose lack of production has been an ongoing problem.

But the uncomplaining Peterson is in his sixth NFL year of doing whatever he's asked and doing it extremely well, without rocking the boat.

In addition to his exceptional special-teams play, where he's fourth on the team with 9 tackles, Peterson is third on the club with 27 receptions, 8 more than he had in his first five seasons combined. He's also averaging 4.4 yards on 30 carries, compared to starter Cedric Benson's 3.0-yard average on 177 attempts.

"Every guy on the team wants to do more," the 5-foot-10, 210-pound Peterson said. "You want to express it. Sometimes you get an opportunity; sometimes you have to wait. I haven't gotten it yet. I'm just standing in line to see what happens."

Because he's a better blocker than Benson, more aware in blitz pickup and a better pass catcher, Peterson plays a lot of third-down snaps in passing situations, but he's yet to get more than 7 carries in a game this season. Including this season, Peterson has just 163 career carries but an impressive 4.7-yard average.

Peterson's only NFL start was in 2003, but he got 24 carries and picked up 120 yards against the 49ers on Nov. 13, 2005, when Thomas Jones was sidelined with an injury and Benson suffered a knee injury before halftime.

No one's mentioned the possibility yet, but Peterson's confident he could adjust to the starting role if it were offered.

"I don't think it would be hard," he said. "I know all the plays, the blitz pickups, so I don't really see that I would have to make changes."

Although he's been used sparingly as a ball carrier in the NFL, carrying 30 times a game wasn't unusual for Peterson in college. He had 54 100-yard rushing games at Division I-AA Georgia Southern, including 36 in a row, and he carried 1,378 times for 9,145 yards and 111 touchdowns.

"We were running the option, so everything came through my stomach," he said. "Even if I didn't get the ball, the defensive end was still coming down and hitting you. It was more like you were getting 40 carries."

Even half of that today would be a huge increase for Peterson, and it might result in a major upgrade to the Bears' running game.