Vikings wide receiver Cordarrelle Patterson saw his impact on the offense slip gradually throughout the season until the last two weeks when he’s gone off the radar completely.
Patterson has played just four offensive snaps in the last two games, leaving him with the desire to check in with coach Mike Zimmer about his place on the team. On Thursday, Patterson said that they had a meeting and that he was left feeling better about things without divulging what the two of them talked about.
“Me and Coach Zimmer, we had a little heart-to-heart talk this morning,” Patterson said, via the Minneapolis Star Tribune. “He kept it real with me and I told him how I feel, so just talking to him, I believe in everything he says. I stand behind him and Coach Turner. I respect everything they’re doing. Getting that talk out of the way, it makes a little less pressure on me. It makes me feel good to go in there and talk to him.”
Zimmer has maintained all season that he thinks Patterson will grow into being a good player and hasn’t deviated from that as the team’s offensive game plans have moved further and further away from the second-year player. At some point, though, talk will have to give way to results on the field and it looks like 2015 will be the earliest point that happens for Patterson.