Cordarrelle Patterson cannot seem to get himself out of the doghouse with the Minnesota Vikings. The wide receiver continues to skate on thin ice as the Vikings prepare to move on with Mike Wallace and Charles Johnson leading the receiving charge as Patterson battles for a spot on the depth chart. After slightly improving in the second preseason game of the year, head coach Mike Zimmer is still not happy.
Patterson's night against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers had its ups and downs. The receiver caught a 21-yard touchdown pass from backup quarterback Shaun Hill, but was then flagged for a taunting penalty, making very little difference during the remainder of his time on the field. Zimmer was not thrilled with Patterson's celebration stunt saying, "Yeah, he did a nice job, made a nice catch. I wash he wouldn't have gotten the taunting penalty on second and four, but those are learning experiences."
According to Zimmer, the receiver still has a lot of learning to do as he has yet to look like the first-round pick he was drafted to be. Patterson's inconsistencies have caused him to be benched and fight for the No.3 spot on the chart. That honor could go to Jarius Wright who looked much improved against the Buccaneers. ESPN.com is reporting that Patterson is currently battling for the fourth spot with rookie Stefon Diggs. Team sources are reporting that it is unlikely Patterson gets released this offseason, but if he continues to have issues, there is no chance the receiver makes the cut next year,
Meanwhile, one player thriving in his role following a demotion is Jerick McKinnon who was a starter last year, but is now relegated to the backup role with Adrian Peterson back. McKinnon is starting in the preseason, but will be the No.2 man with Peterson set to come back at the start of the regular season. McKinnon could actually see decent numbers as the Vikings plan on limiting the role of Peterson and his amount of carries. That makes the case of McKinnon to be picked up in fantasy football.
"Showcase to coaches and my teammates what I've been working on and know how much better I've been getting," McKinnon said, via RollingStone.com. "And just let it play out in camp. But ultimately it's the coaches' decision how they're going to use their number-one and number-two backs. I'm looking forward to it. All the running backs are great guys. They've been helping me ever since I got here and I can't thank them enough for stuff like that."
