Secret Weapon? Cordarrelle Patterson Might Be a Back
There's a reason the Bears haven't signed a fifth running back for training camp.
They already have one and he wears No. 84.
Wide receiver Cordarrelle Patterson has been in the running backs rooms and now a report from NFL.com's Mike Garafolo says he just isn't simply going into the room occasionally but he's been a major focus.
"Again, he is in with the running backs to learn everything about the position, the protections and everything," Garafolo wrote. "So, when he's lined up back there you don't necessarily know if he's going to get the football. ... Could be an interesting year for him and an interesting year for this Bears offense in general."
The Bears got Patterson only 28 touches last year from scrimmage and it seemed almost criminal to have someone with that kind of speed, size and power only touch the ball 11 times on passes and 17 times on rushes.
"Cordarrelle's obviously a very talented player who has played some running back in the past on some past teams he has been with," running backs coach Charles London said last week. "We're always looking for ways to maximize the way we can get him the ball.
"I'm sure as we continue to evolve on offense, we'll see if maybe he fits somewhere, but I know we have big plans for Cordarrelle this year on offense in general."
It would be surprising if they only put Patterson in the backfield, though. It's more likely they're getting him as much exposure to running it out of the backfield as possible because they didn't do it enough last year.
Wide receivers coach Mike Furrey anticipates seeing Patterson with the ball all kinds of ways.
"Obviously, it's going to be fun to do because I think we all have realized that how we do it or how it happens, the guy has to have the ball in his hands," Furrey said. "Yah know? He's one of the most elite explosive dominant football players with the ball in his hands in this league. Right?
"Whether it's kick return or whatever he does on offense. So obviously that's the traits that he has. So we have to get him ready and get him going."
New England has come the closest to getting multiple uses out of Patterson. He had 21 receptions and 42 rushing attempts when they won the Super Bowl in 2018 and it was done out of necessity largely, because of injuries and the need for a greater variety of backs.
Patterson helped turn the Broncos game in the Bears' favor last year with a 46-yard run, and averaged 6.4 yards a rush.
When the Bears held a camp-opening Zoom teleconference with media, GM Ryan Pace was asked about the thin group of running backs and which group Patterson would spend most of his time with, and he didn't answer the part of the question dealing with Patterson.
Size-wise Patterson isn't quite a Derrick Henry (6-foot-3, 247 pounds) but is very large for a back. He is 6-2, 238 pounds.
It wouldn't be difficult to envision Patterson lining up deep in the backfield and taking tosses left or right besides running on end-arounds or jet sweeps like the Bears used him extensively last year.
The running back group has starter David Montgomery, backup Ryan Nall, rookie Artavis Pierce and third-down back Tarik Cohen in addition to Patterson.
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