Adrian Peterson has described accusations that he used performance-enhancing drugs last season as "a compliment".
An unnamed Detroit Lions player has suggested that the Minnesota Vikings running back was "juicing" during his MVP award-winning season.
Peterson told CBSSports: "It was like turning a negative into a positive. To be honest with you, it makes me feel good when people say little stuff like that, and I'm sure it happens all the time.
"I guess I am performing that well that people think I'm juicing, that I am taking something. That really shows me how much God has blessed me to be able to come back and play the way I played.
"To me, it's a compliment. I've always been an honest person. I never cheated the system. I am big on taking advantage of my natural abilities and applying work ethic to it to be able to climb the highest level."
Peterson game just nine yards short of breaking the single season rushing yards record in 2012, just a year after tearing his anterior cruciate ligament.
