NFL teams
Ben Goessling, ESPN Staff Writer 9y

Ben Tate trying to fit in with Vikings

NFL, Minnesota Vikings

EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. -- Ben Tate arrived in Minnesota on Thursday to start his time with a team still trying to find the identity of its running game without Adrian Peterson.

That could create an opportunity for Tate, who's trying to reboot his career after he was waived Tuesday by the Cleveland Browns.

Tate went through just a few practice snaps with the Minnesota Vikings on Thursday, and he has plenty to learn in the three days before the Vikings play host to the Green Bay Packers. But with Matt Asiata still trying to return from a concussion and Jerick McKinnon dealing with a lower back strain, the Vikings saw a good opportunity to add running back depth with Tate.

"Yesterday, we had one back that could practice. Certainly it was good timing," offensive coordinator Norv Turner said Thursday. "We're getting started with Ben and trying to teach him our system and hopefully get him where he can be ready to go and contribute."

Tate was the odd man out of a three-back rotation in Cleveland, after coach Mike Pettine said Isaiah Crowell and Terrance West were more explosive options for the Browns.

Tate, who joined the Browns after three years in Houston, said on Nov. 6 that he'd "be lying" if he said he was happy with his role in Cleveland. And when asked if attitude problems had anything to do with Tate's reduced workload, Browns coach Mike Pettine said: "Nothing that I would speak on here."

On Thursday, Tate denied saying he was dissatisfied in Cleveland. "That's false. I never said that," he said. "You can go back in the article and tell me somewhere where I said that. I never said that."

McKinnon has been the Vikings' primary ball carrier, gaining a team-high 484 yards on 98 carries this season. He expects to play Sunday, and Turner said on Thursday: "I think we're excited about Jerick and what he's done. I see him as our running back."

But there could be a role for Tate in the Vikings' reconfigured running game.

"I don't have a certain expectation or a certain this or that," he said. "I'm just trying to learn the playbook and give it 100 percent and try to do whatever I can to help this team win."

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