Vikings wide receiver Cordarrelle Patterson has carried the ball once in the last two weeks and lost seven yards on that carry, but he’s still Minnesota’s leading rusher on the season.
That’s led some to wonder whether the Vikings should be doing more to get the ball into Patterson’s hands with Adrian Peterson out of the picture on offense. Patterson said Thursday he’s not lobbying for more carries and offensive coordinator Norv Turner said feeding him the ball is not as simple as it may sound now that defenses are keying on the second-year playmaker.
“We need to continue to find balance,” Turner said, via the Minneapolis Star Tribune. “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.”
Patterson also leads the team in receiving yards, so it’s not like he’s been totally ignored over the last two weeks. If the move to Teddy Bridgewater lifts the offensive production as a whole, finding ways to feed Patterson should present themselves more frequently.