Backfield Options Improve for Bears Even Without Le'Veon Bell

The wild speculation about Le'Veon Bell coming to the Bears has quickly burned out and Cordarrelle Patterson stands to benefit most.

Lamar Miller won't be far behind him.

Patterson seems the ideal choice to pick up some of the carries lost after third-down back Tarik Cohen went out with a torn ACL. At the very least, he's in line to catch some of the passes norally intended for Cohen.

"I mean, opportunity, that's all it's about," Patterson said. "It's nothing else. When your number's called, you just gotta go out and make a play, show the coaches you're worth everything they think you are."

Patterson had a well-executed 25-yard catch out of the backfield against Tampa Bay. His three catches in the win over the Buccaneers was his high as a Bear, as was his 38-yard performance as a receiver.

The Bears' kick returner and punt gunner now has 28 combined touches on the season as an alternative to David Montgomery in the backfield.

If that sounds familiar, it's the same number of touches he had for the entire 2019 season.

And the number is about to get much higher if he continues having success, as coach Matt Nagy makes good on a promise to get one of their most explosive players the ball.

"Every opportunity I get, man, I just try to go out there and make the play no matter what as offense, special teams," Patterson said. "When my number's called I just gotta be ready and gotta go out there and make a play."

The Bears seem to have gone from one extreme to the other with backs who can be involved heavily in the passing game. Cohen is 5-foot-6, 191 and Patterson 6-2, 238. Both ran the 40 in 4.42 seconds at the combine, but Patterson is more explosive as a straight-ahead runner.

It leads to some strange trash talking from defensive players who have to try and tackle a downhill runner with Patterson's size and speed.

"Man, I hear a lot of stuff," Patterson said. "Them defensive guys, man, they crazy, man. They be saying some weird stuff out there. I wish all of them was mic'd up.

"But as a big running back, I'm just trying to go out there and make a play. I don't care if I was 5-8 or 6-3 or whatever, I just try to go out there and make a play. It doesn't matter, my size."

Patterson could soon have company in the backfield if Miller is ready to start playing in the offense, this week or next. The former Texans back, who had a torn ACL last week, has been receiving a crash course on the offense.

Miller had between 709 yards rushing and 1,099 yards rushing over the course six seasons until his torn ACL in 2019 preseason.

"Well, we all know what Lamar Miller has done and what kind of back he has been in his career," Nagy said. "He has done a lot of really good things. And we've had some coaches who have coached him with (offensive coordinator) Bill Lazor and (running backs coach) Charles London.

"So right now being able to see him get back to where he wants to be, where we want to be is important. And when he gets to that point, now you're looking at just being able to strengthen that running back room and it gives you a guy who can obviously run between the tackles. I think he fits well into our scheme and what we do. He can catch the football. And he’s got experience. So he can be a valuable running back for us and we've just got to take it day by day, week by week and really see where his strength is at with his injury and kind of coming back from that."

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