FOXBOROUGH -- Mike Zimmer sees Cordarrelle Patterson and the way he's being used by the Patriots this season, and shakes his head.
The former Viking has been a bit of a jack-of-all-trades this season in New England, having lined up at wide receiver, kick returner, and running back. On a conference call with local media Wednesday morning, the Minnesota coach sounded like a man lamenting a missed opportunity.
“(The Patriots are) using him way better than we did,” Zimmer said on a conference call on Wednesday. “I think Cordarrelle’s a great athlete and a very, very strong runner. I think they’re using him in a number different ways. It’s good to see for him. I wish we would have used him a little better.”
Patterson has 13 catches for 120 yards and two touchdowns, to go along with 37 carries for 156 yards and a touchdown and 17 kick returns for 525 yards and a touchdown.
“He’s an exceptional hard runner that can make a lot of big plays,” Zimmer said of Patterson. “He can make a lot of guys miss. He gets a lot of yards after contact. And then, whether it’s throwing him the ball or handing him the ball or rocket sweeps or whatever it is, I just think everyone’s known how talented he was — we obviously knew how talented he was here as well — but we didn’t get him the ball enough and maybe in a lot of those ways that they’re using him."
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No Dwayne Allen...only one missing. Cold day in Foxborough. #Patriots @BostonSportsBSJ pic.twitter.com/dRBbYHQGjc
— Christopher Price (@cpriceNFL) November 28, 2018
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The injury report is out. Good news on the Rob Gronkowski front -- after back and ankle issues the last month or so, the tight end is off the report. But Tom Brady was one of two who were limited with a knee.
But like we said earlier, this is a really short list for a team at this time of year. Not sure if Brady's knee is the same one he had an issue with last week.