Cordarrelle Patterson is one Vikings player who can’t afford to miss any training camp reps, but that’s exactly what’s happening.
Most of the time training camp isn’t especially important for veterans, but that’s not the case if you’re one of those veterans who after a few years in the league still hasn’t proven himself.
And Coradarrelle Patterson would qualify as such a veteran.
But this year was supposed to be the year Patterson finally screwed his head on straight, got down to work and showed that he can be a true contributor as a wide receiver.
So what happened? Just a few days into camp, Patterson suffered a shoulder injury while laying out for ball.
The headline should have been “Cordarrelle Patterson goes all-out for once.” Instead it turned out to be negative.
Enjoy this video because it may be the last you ever see of Patterson giving maximum effort.
The Vikings are downplaying the severity of Patterson’s injury (where have I heard that before?), but it must be noted that Monday morning Flash was seen standing off to the side in a bucket hat while his healthy teammates practiced.
For Patterson’s sake I hope he is quickly able to trade the floppy hat for a helmet, because he needs to be out there.
Unlike most veterans who could probably skip camp, Patterson needs every rep he can get.
He doesn’t just need the reps to improve, he needs them to prove to the coaching staff that he really is an improved player.
If Patterson hopes to crack the Vikings’ receiver rotation and get meaningful snaps, he first has to get it done on the practice field in a way that satisfies Norv Turner and company that he’s worthy of a bigger workload.
He can’t do that if he’s standing there watching.
It would be a shame if Patterson truly was mentally engaged but had to miss practice due to an injury.
After watching Patterson go up and get that ball on the play he was hurt on, I have to say, that’s a Cordarrelle Patterson I could get used to.
I hope I get a chance to see that kind of effort from him again.