The Vikings traded up into the first round in April to get wide receiver Cordarrelle Patterson and discussion immediately began about how he and Greg Jeninngs would be frequent targets for Christian Ponder in the passing game.
It hasn’t turned out that way. Patterson had a 105-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in Sunday’s loss to the Bears, but he saw just six snaps on offense a week after the team had him on the field for only five plays. That’s less playing time than converted quarterback Joe Webb has received, something that few people would have predicted before the year began and something that coach Leslie Frazier wants to change.
“We’re going to get that rectified,” Frazier said, via Judd Zulgad of ESPN1500.com. “He definitely deserves to be on the field more. He’s shown that in the few snaps he’s gotten in these first two ball games. Hopefully, everything being equal, that should not be a part of the conversation next week. We want to get him on the field. He’s one of our explosive players for sure. We see what he does when he gets the ball in his hands. We’ve got to find a way to get him on the field.”
Patterson is a raw player and rounding off his rough edges will take some time, but the best way to make that happen is to put him on the field. It sounds like they’ll start doing that this week.