Cordarrelle Patterson was the talk of the NFL after Week 1. After a somewhat quiet rookie season with the Minnesota Vikings, the wide receiver had a breakout game, putting up 102 yards on three carries rushing and 26 yards on three catches receiving. He was starting to look like the star Minnesota believed they were drafting. However, since that Week 1 game, Patterson's role in the offense has stalled out leaving many to wonder what happened to the receiver.
Patterson told the media that he is simply trusting in offensive coordinator Norv Turner and not complaining about his role on the offense. After putting together big numbers in Week 1, the wide receiver had 56 yards receiving in Week 2 and 61 yards in Week 3. His number of targets have gone down, not to mention he is no longer utilized in the run game. Patterson notes that those type of things are coach's decisions.
"I trust everything coach Turner is doing and the offensive staff," Patterson said, via The Star Tribune. "When my time comes, my time is going to come and I'll be ready for it."
With the absence of Adrian Peterson and the injury to Kyle Rudolph, Patterson becomes a key member of the offense more so than before. He and Greg Jennings are expected to maintain the playmaking in the passing game while Matt Asiata becomes the starting running back. The team has not made any additional roster moves and Turner confirms that getting Patterson the ball more needs to happen.
"We need to continue to find balance," Turner said. ". When everyone talks about balance, they think it's run and pass. It's balance in terms of getting all of our players involved. In my experience when they're going good, they take someone away or concentrate on someone to give someone else the opportunity. Cordarrelle is a different situation he was a year ago. He's growing and teams are matching with him and they're concentrating on him. We've got to continue to work ways to get him the ball."
Teddy Bridgewater is now taking over the starting reigns of the quarterback position with Matt Cassel out for the remainder of the year following a foot injury. Utilizing Patterson will be one of the many ways he can guarantee success in his rookie season.
