Maybe Wilson thought his star running back needed to brush up his fundamentals.
Maybe Wilson just wanted to make the point that even the team's best player isn't above harsh public criticism.
Whatever Wilson's motivation might have been, the result painted a sour picture of Peterson's performance in Saturday's 24-17 win over Alabama-Birmingham.
"He really didn't come close to playing a good game for him," Wilson said. "He made a couple good plays, but he missed some things. I think he thinks every play is a home run instead of slamming it in there and cramming it in."
Wilson also laid fault - at least partially, if not completely - on Peterson's poor blocking for one of the Sooners' two interceptions and for the lone quarterback sack they allowed in the game.
"I told (Peterson) after the game, 'If you're a man, you need to go in and tell those guys you didn't play your best,' " Wilson said, adding that he can more freely criticize Peterson this season, because of his role as offensive coordinator.
Peterson, while unavailable to respond to Wilson's comments Tuesday, said Monday that he could have played better.
"If I would've gotten that block, he would have been able to follow through with it and put it in front of (Juaquin Iglesias) and it would have been an easy touchdown," Peterson said. "Just watching the film, I'm looking at things I need to improve on more and focus on more."
Peterson said it took him a while to get going against UAB.
"The first half, I was a little too indecisive, I was hesitant," Peterson said. "I really didn't run like I normally run, north and south. I was a little shaky in there."
Last season, Wilson managed the running game under offensive coordinator Chuck Long.
"You don't want to cross the bounds of what you're doing," Wilson said. "That was under the direction of coach (Bob) Stoops, and coach Long and I had a role.
"If I can't criticize him or coach him or correct him, I can't coach anyone on our team and he knows that."
Peterson upheld a promise he made to his coaches to atone for his missed blocking assignments with 139 rushing yards and a 69-yard touchdown on a pass reception.
But his good plays didn't pay the debt for his bad ones, Wilson said.
"He said 'Hey, I'll make up for that play.' Well, a great player doesn't make that first play and the ball's not (turned over)," Wilson said.
"He's told all the time how good he is, and you start thinking those things and you take things for granted."
Wilson's philosophy begins with Peterson playing the physical, disciplined style of football he's capable of, rather than always looking for the big play.
"The guy that trained me in coaching was a running back and his comment all the time was 'You get nickels, you get nickels, you get nickels and you'll find a dollar. If you're looking for dollars, there's not a lot of dollars laying around, but there's a bunch of nickels on the ground,' " Wilson said.
Wilson compared Peterson to one of his former running backs, Miami of Ohio's Travis Prentice.
From 1996-99 -- with Wilson as his offensive coordinator his first three years -- Prentice set NCAA records for career touchdowns with 78 and consecutive carries without a fumble with 862.
"(Peterson) isn't close to either of those things, as talented as he is right now," Wilson said.
"The challenge is to get him to be a great player. He's a great talent. He's close, but it's getting him to be more consistent. That's what we're striving for him to do."
