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New Orleans Saints running back Adrian Peterson played just nine snaps in the team's Week 1 loss and at one point was seen having a sideline exchange with head coach Sean Payton, leading to conjecture that he may not be happy in New Orleans and fueling potential trade speculation.

But according to ESPN's Adam Schefter, the Saints aren't interested in dealing Peterson.

He wrote, "It doesn't mean the Saints won't wind up listening to offers for the running back closer to the trade deadline, but New Orleans recognizes how effective he can be and how it often takes new players a bit of time to acclimate to a new offensive system."

Schefter added that the Saints "first would like to try to make their relationship work before ending it."

Peterson acknowledged, to a point, that he wasn't happy with his role in Week 1 after he had just six carries for 18 yards against the Vikings, a far cry from the workload he grew accustomed to in his first 10 seasons.

"I didn't sign up for nine snaps, though. But unfortunately that's the way the game played out," Peterson said Thursday, per Schefter. "In my mind, personally, I knew it was gonna take some adjusting. You know, me and Mark [Ingram] played in the last preseason game, and AK [Alvin Kamara] didn't even play that game. So with all three of us being out there, I knew it would take a game or so to kind of get adjusted. So we'll see how things [go] this week."

The Saints certainly find themselves with a crowded backfield. While Ingram doesn't have Peterson's prestigious resume, he did rush for over 1,000 yards in 2016. And Kamara is an explosive rookie who will probably make a bigger impact on third downs and as a scatback—a different role from the one Peterson and Ingram will play—though he'll nonetheless require his share of touches to be effective as well.

So it seems unlikely that Peterson will be seeing 20 or more touches a game with much regularity this season. Payton essentially hinted as much Sunday.

"I don't think we've ever discussed featuring him like he was featured in Minnesota," Payton told the NFL Network's Jane Slater (h/t Kevin Patra of NFL.com). "And yet, our hopes obviously are that we have more than fifty snaps like we did a week ago. It's tough when you have eight possessions. I felt like two-thirds of the call sheet we didn't even get to so we ended up in a hurry-up mode in the last part of the game. Hopefully we have that balance that we're looking for and we'll see how that goes."

And for now, at least, Peterson and the Saints seem willing to continue their experimental relationship.