Vikings wide receiver Cordarrelle Patterson had three carries for 102 rushing yards and a touchdown in Week 1 against the Rams with offensive coordinator Norv Turner using him in the backfield and on two jet sweeps.
Since then, he’s received just one carry — a reverse on rookie quarterback Teddy Bridgewater’s first play that lost seven yards. With the offense scoring just one touchdown in two games without running back Adrian Peterson, some have wondered why Patterson hasn’t received more rushing attempts. Patterson, on the hand, said he hasn’t lobbied for more carries.
Turner wants to get Patterson the ball more, but he also wants to do the same to the rest of his offensive weapons after a game where he felt the Vikings missed out on at least two touchdown passes.
“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.”
Frankly, it's bizarre that the Vikings haven't run Patterson more after the success he had in the first game, especially since the team's ground attack is on life support with Adrian Peterson out of the picture. The Falcons' defense isn't very good, so there's a chance that Patterson gets it going in Week 4 after a couple of quiet games.
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